Gordon Cricket congratulate Matt Parkinson on making his test debut for England last week. Following in the footsteps of Mason Crane, Parky’s selection means that the last two stag test cricketers have played for the Poms! This should provide plenty of incentive for our up-and-coming stags to see if they can get a baggy green cap in the next few years.

Parky debuted in the first test against New Zealand at Lords, played on June 2-5, selected as a concussion sub after Jack Leach had a mishap in training. He joined the team at the beginning of a new era, with Ben Stokes taking over the captaincy from Joe Root and kiwi Brendan McCullum taking up the role of head coach for England. Not thrown the pill in the first innings on a seamer friendly wicket, Parky outscored 4 of the top 7 English batsmen in their first dig on his way to a score of 8 runs. No surprises there. He claimed the wicket of Tim Southee in the kiwi’s second innings, finishing with figures of 1-47 off 15.3 overs. A century by Joe Root in the second innings steered England to an important victory over the third ranked test team.

Stepping into Mason’s shoes as overseas pro, Parky played the 2017-18 season for the stags, taking 21 wickets at an average of 37.8 in First Grade and 5 wickets at the remarkable average of 2.5 in the Poidevin-Grey competition. Current players Nic Andreou, Jamie Bekis, Ryan Tullia and Matt Wright had the privilege of playing PGs with Parky in that season. We are all proud of you, mate!

Feature image source: @mattyparky96