Parkinson’s England career on the up after ‘tough’ winter

MATT Parkinson admits to grappling with some “dark moments” during a long winter on the sub-continental sidelines, but has emerged with a smile on his face and an England career on the up.

Parkinson was an ever present on the winter tours of Sri Lanka and India, spending three long months on the road in restrictive bio-secure conditions and did not make a single competitive appearance.

The 24-year-old leg-spinner won praise from head coach Chris Silverwood for his hard work and positive attitude but Parkinson has revealed he was not always able to keep his chin up.

What he did not know at the time was his endless stints in the nets, working on turning pitches against the country’s best batsmen, were forming building blocks for the next phase of his career. In the past two weeks he has won five caps and taken six wickets across both whiteball formats and is set to go again in today’s T20 decider against Pakistan at his home ground of Emirates Old Trafford.

“It was a tough three months not playing this winter, there were some dark moments in rooms in India,” he recalled. “Obviously you’re very grateful to be on an England tour, and it’s done me wonders, but you want to play and be involved. I didn’t think I’d got any better...I didn’t think ‘this is a waste’ but I got down very easily. You can get really, really down but I realised when I got back home after about a month how much I’d improved.

“To have had those three months working there, bowling each day to the likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and then the white-ball lads...I don’t think you appreciate it when you’re there. I’m very grateful I went on that trip. I probably wasn’t when I came back but I am now.”