Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson hatches plan to land England Test debut

Following three months of touring with England on the subcontinent, albeit without claiming his first Test cap, the 24-year-old returned to County action with the bit between his teeth, and set about stating his case for making his debut against New Zealand next month, picking up nineteen wickets in a strong start to the 2021 season.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Parkinson, who has played two ODI's and two T20Is for England, opened up on his desire to become a Test cricketer, and revealed: “I don’t want to be a person who finishes with 60 first-class games, has a good record but only ever as second spinner or on the back of four to five games a season.

“For the next 10 years I want to be someone that takes 60 wickets a season and plays a full part in winning Lancashire the title. To do that I need to compete with the best. If I play against Somerset, I have to out-perform Jack Leach.

“People like Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar used to play every game for their counties and perform and you want to be picked for England for form like that, not on promise, which is what I was first picked off, I guess.”

After his stunning Shane Warne-esque delivery dismissed Northamptonshire captain Adam Rossington, the buzz around Parkinson continued to grow, and he'll vying with the likes of Hampshire's Mason Crane and Surrey's Amar Virdi to be the latest spinner to break into England's Test side.

Parkinson also revealed a recent change in bowling technique, and said: “I decided last year during a T20 match that I was going to scrap trying to change, go back to how I bowled and if that was not quick enough to play for England, it wasn’t quick enough.

“Look, I might still be too slow but this year it feels as though my pace has picked up naturally. I would like to think I have added a couple of miles per hour without losing anything.”