Matt’s bucking of Englishmen
MATT PARKINSON is probably one of the more contented Englishmen in Australia at the moment.
The cynics may say this is not surprising given he doesn’t have much to beat but that will not prevent the 21-year-old Lancashire leg-spinner counting his bevy of blessings.
For one thing there is fitness. Parkinson returned from an ECB training camp last spring nursing a stress fracture in his back and spent the first half of last summer recuperating in his county’s second team.
For another there is form. After making his debut in the T20 side, Parkinson took 14 wickets in the T20 Blast and 14 more in his five Championship matches – a run which earned him Lancashire’s Young Player of the Year award.
And finally there is opportunity. Parkinson is spending the winter on an ECB placement playing for Gordon CC. That, of course, is the same Sydney first grade club Mason Crane represented last year, and if Parkinson has not yet had quite the impact Crane managed, a total of 33 wickets in all games still puts him at the top of their wicket-taking table.
Parkinson also has time on his side. If he can establish himself in domestic cricket – admittedly a tough task given the limited opportunities he might get on dry English wickets – he could have something like 15 years in which to hone his skills.
And it’s not as if the past couple of years have been free of triumphs and setbacks.
“I made my first-class debut in 2016 and that year went really well,” he said.“I travelled out with the Lions but didn’t have anything like the winter I intended. I was recovering from that stress fracture when last season began, so to go from not playing any cricket at all to having the season I did was a really good effort.
“I didn’t play a game until the second week of May but then played five of the last six