Matt Parkinson hopes to go from England's 12th man to their main man

England leg-spinner Matt Parkinson hopes to go from 12th man to main man and spearhead the post-Ashes era

• Matt Parkinson has played a lot as England’s 12th man on several overseas tours
• Now the Lancashire leg-spinner is aiming to become his country’s main man
• The man praised by Shane Warne could make his Test debut against the Windies

It’s 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 20s, 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.

Matt Parkinson is hoping to go from 12th man to main man for England against the West Indies

‘On previous tours, I never felt properly close to playing, so I hope this one is different, and I can wrap my head around that idea.’

Two years ago, Parkinson was a member of the respective squads dispatched to New Zealand and South Africa. Last winter, he was amongst the Covid reserves shadowing the team in Sri Lanka and India. 

Before Christmas, although surplus to Ashes requirements, he was in Australia with England Lions. He’s done a lot of bowling overseas, just not in the middle.

And when he did play for England in limited-overs assignments in 2019-20, a theory developed that his deliveries were too slow through the air to trouble international batsmen.

Leg-spinner Parkinson has won praise from legendary Australian Shane Warne (above)

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.’

Those words 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. I don’t know whether he was doing it with a pinch of salt or not, you are never fully sure, 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,’ Parkinson said.

‘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 2021, he claimed 40 first-class wickets – doubling his previous best return – to take his career haul beyond the 100-mark at an impressive 23.35.

And an economy rate of 2.3 in County Championship action showed he has learnt 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 left-armer 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 in Adil Rashid has managed to reach double figures in dismissals. 

The Lancashire star (right) has already made his ODI debut but could make his Test bow soon

Rashid claimed 60 victims in 19 appearances; Ian Salisbury, Chris Schofield, Scott Borthwick and Mason Crane six in seven between them, four of them to Borthwick in a single outing in Sydney.

If they do take the plunge on a sixth man during a series featuring matches in Antigua, Barbados and Grenada, 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 a bit 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, and I’m always trying to put as much on it as I can, especially if I’m bowling a stock leg break,’ he said.

‘Because there are times when natural variation will come into play: your wrist won’t come over perfectly, the ball will come out the front of the hand maybe, the seam is not perfect, or it might slide on. But that’s the best thing about leg-spin. Even when it doesn’t come out as you want, it can still lead to wickets.’

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