Matt hopes to go from 12th man to main man
IT IS HARD to remain inconspicuous when you are sporting a fluorescent bib. Such has been the lot over recent years of Matt Parkinson, who would much rather be drawing attention to himself for a different reason.
Namely, solving England’s uneasy relationship with leg-spin and fulfilling Shane Warne’s belief that midway through his twenties, he has acquired the necessary tools to succeed at Test level.
‘I’ve done a lot of 12th man actually,’ he says with a nervous laugh as he discusses the prospect of a Test debut against West Indies next month. ‘On previous tours, I never felt properly close to playing, so I hope this is different.’
Two years ago, Parkinson was a member of the squads dispatched to New Zealand and South Africa. Last winter, he was among the Covid reserves shadowing the team in Sri Lanka and India. He did a lot of bowling, just not in the middle.
And when he did play for England in limitedovers assignments in 2019-20, a theory developed that his deliveries were too slow through the air to trouble international batsmen.
Not so, according to Australian maestro Warne who argued last summer: ‘If you can spin the ball, you’ll be successful, no matter what form of the game.
I think he bowls a beautiful pace.’
It came after Parkinson produced a social media showreel of big-ripping dismissals, including a fine imitation of Warne’s miracle ball to Mike Gatting to account for Northamptonshire’s Adam Rossington, and one through the gate of Imam-ul-Haq in a one-day international at Edgbaston.
‘It’s nice to have a legend of the game in your corner,’ said Parkinson. ‘I don’t know whether he was doing it with a pinch of salt or not, but it was obviously pleasing to read the things he’d said. It was a bonus to hear him say I should stick to what I am good at.
‘It’s the performances that matter though and this is the first time I have been called up for England off the back of a full season of Championship cricket for Lancashire.
‘To play a dozen games was fantastic, not least because it meant England were considering me on numbers rather than youth and potential, I guess. I’m 25 now, have a decent amount of cricket behind me and hopefully the story is different.’
During the 2021 season, he claimed 40 first-class wickets — doubling his previous best return — at 20.45 runs apiece. It took his career haul beyond 100 at an impressive 23.35.
And an economy rate of 2.3 in County Championship action showed he has learned to hold an end in the first innings, something he will be asked to do by Joe Root in the three-Test series in the Caribbean if he usurps slow leftarmer Jack Leach in England’s spin stakes. The first hurdle to be crossed though is one for the selectors. England have fielded five wrist spinners this century and only one, Adil Rashid, has managed to reach double figures in the wickets column.
If they do take the plunge on a sixth, Parkinson is confident the work done at Lancashire alongside Carl Crowe and with England coaches Jeetan Patel and Richard Dawson, to get the ball down the other end quicker, will bear fruit.
‘I know that when I try to bowl my best ball, it’s good enough whatever the situation of the game,’ he said. ‘The best thing about leg-spin is that when it doesn’t come out as you want, it can still lead to wickets.’