Ciss Parkin
Encyclopedia
Cecil Harry "Cec" Parkin (February 18, 1886, Eaglescliffe
, Stockton-on-Tees
, County Durham
– June 15, 1943, Cheetham Hill
, Manchester
, Lancashire
) was an English
cricket
er who played in 10 Tests
from 1920 to 1924 and 157 games for Lancashire County Cricket Club
.
He played one first-class match
for Yorkshire
in 1906, before it was discovered that he was born twenty yards outside the county boundary. Despite the fact that many cricketers had appeared for Yorkshire who were not born inside the county boundaries he then spent the next 8 years playing league and minor county cricket. He then joined Lancashire
and played at Old Trafford from 1914 to 1926, although four of these years were lost to the Great War. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1924.
He was a mercurial, inventive off spinner who used flight, guile and turn to dismiss batsman and demanded attacking fields from his captains. He could be expensive, as he disdained any policy of containment against good batsmen on flat pitches, but at his best he could run through any side. He took 14 Leicestershire County Cricket Club
wickets on his debut for the Red Rose at Liverpool in 1914, when he was already 28, and did not become a full time cricketer until the age of 34 in 1921, the year he topped the Test averages against Warwick Armstrong
's mighty Australian side. Before then he had combined his Saturday league commitments with appearances for Lancashire.
He took 14 wickets in the 1919 Roses Match
at Old Trafford at just 10 apiece and, in the first innings of the Gentlemen v Players
match of 1920 dismissed 9 Gentlemen at the Oval
, six clean bowled, for 85. He was picked for England's tour of Australia that winter and took 5 for 60 in the first innings at Adelaide
in a difficult rubber for the England team. He was England's most successful bowler in all first class games on the tour however, with 73 at 21 each. In all he played 8 Tests against Australia without ever appearing on the winning side. He is one of the few players to have opened both the bowling and batting, against Australia at Old Trafford, for England, a remarkable performance by a spin bowler who played only 10 games.
He was known as a great character in the dressing room but his outspoken views often saw him class with the cricketing authorities of the time. He was dropped from the England team when he criticised England Captain Arthur Gilligan
in a newspaper article and fell out with the Lancashire Committee two years later which ended his first class career. After leaving Lancashire he returned to league cricket and continued to prove a heavy wicket taker for many years.
He was Lancashire's best bowler in 1923, taking 209 wickets at 16.94, and 1924, 200 at just 13.67, but in 1925 took 'only' 121 wickets at 20.79. Ted McDonald
and Dick Tyldesley
began to dominate the attack for the powerful Lancashire team as they sought to end Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship
. His benefit match with Middlesex in 1925 realised £1,880 and in 1926 he played in eleven county matches, taking 36 wickets at 15.13 and helped Lancashire win the championship for the first time since 1904. Sadly a dispute with the powers that be saw his first class career end at 40.
He was equally unorthodox and inventive as a batsman, if rather less skilled. He wrote a lively account of his cricketing days and was, characteristically, a talented conjurer and magician. He used to experiment with new deliveries by bowling them at his wife in the nets and occasionally sent her home with bruised fingers.
Eaglescliffe
Eaglescliffe is a small town in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in North East England. It is on the north bank of the River Tees and for ceremonial purposes is in County Durham. The bridge at Eaglescliffe on the border with Yarm marked the last crossing point of tidal section of the River Tees...
, Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...
, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
– June 15, 1943, Cheetham Hill
Cheetham Hill
Cheetham Hill is an inner city area of Manchester, England. As an electoral ward it is known as Cheetham and has a population of 12,846. It lies on the west bank of the River Irk, north-northeast of Manchester city centre and close to the boundary with the City of Salford...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played in 10 Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
from 1920 to 1924 and 157 games for Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
.
He played one first-class match
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
in 1906, before it was discovered that he was born twenty yards outside the county boundary. Despite the fact that many cricketers had appeared for Yorkshire who were not born inside the county boundaries he then spent the next 8 years playing league and minor county cricket. He then joined Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
and played at Old Trafford from 1914 to 1926, although four of these years were lost to the Great War. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1924.
He was a mercurial, inventive off spinner who used flight, guile and turn to dismiss batsman and demanded attacking fields from his captains. He could be expensive, as he disdained any policy of containment against good batsmen on flat pitches, but at his best he could run through any side. He took 14 Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
wickets on his debut for the Red Rose at Liverpool in 1914, when he was already 28, and did not become a full time cricketer until the age of 34 in 1921, the year he topped the Test averages against Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...
's mighty Australian side. Before then he had combined his Saturday league commitments with appearances for Lancashire.
He took 14 wickets in the 1919 Roses Match
Roses Match
The Roses Match refers to any game of cricket played between Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Lancashire County Cricket Club. Yorkshire's emblem is the white rose, while Lancashire's is the red rose. The associations go back to the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century...
at Old Trafford at just 10 apiece and, in the first innings of the Gentlemen v Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
match of 1920 dismissed 9 Gentlemen at the Oval
Oval
An oval is any curve resembling an egg or an ellipse, such as a Cassini oval. The term does not have a precise mathematical definition except in one area oval , but it may also refer to:* A sporting arena of oval shape** a cricket field...
, six clean bowled, for 85. He was picked for England's tour of Australia that winter and took 5 for 60 in the first innings at Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
in a difficult rubber for the England team. He was England's most successful bowler in all first class games on the tour however, with 73 at 21 each. In all he played 8 Tests against Australia without ever appearing on the winning side. He is one of the few players to have opened both the bowling and batting, against Australia at Old Trafford, for England, a remarkable performance by a spin bowler who played only 10 games.
He was known as a great character in the dressing room but his outspoken views often saw him class with the cricketing authorities of the time. He was dropped from the England team when he criticised England Captain Arthur Gilligan
Arthur Gilligan
Arthur Edward Robert Gilligan was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Sussex, Surrey and England....
in a newspaper article and fell out with the Lancashire Committee two years later which ended his first class career. After leaving Lancashire he returned to league cricket and continued to prove a heavy wicket taker for many years.
He was Lancashire's best bowler in 1923, taking 209 wickets at 16.94, and 1924, 200 at just 13.67, but in 1925 took 'only' 121 wickets at 20.79. Ted McDonald
Ted McDonald
Edgar Arthur "Ted" McDonald was a cricketer who played for Tasmania, Victoria, Lancashire and Australia, as well as being an Australian rules footballer who played with Launceston Football Club, Essendon Football Club, and Fitzroy Football Club.A very fast bowler with the...
and Dick Tyldesley
Dick Tyldesley
Dick Tyldesley was a Lancashire cricketer who was one of the most important figures in Lancashire breaking Yorkshire's stronghold on the County Championship between 1926 and 1930.He was the youngest of four brothers who all played for Lancashire, but were unrelated...
began to dominate the attack for the powerful Lancashire team as they sought to end Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
. His benefit match with Middlesex in 1925 realised £1,880 and in 1926 he played in eleven county matches, taking 36 wickets at 15.13 and helped Lancashire win the championship for the first time since 1904. Sadly a dispute with the powers that be saw his first class career end at 40.
He was equally unorthodox and inventive as a batsman, if rather less skilled. He wrote a lively account of his cricketing days and was, characteristically, a talented conjurer and magician. He used to experiment with new deliveries by bowling them at his wife in the nets and occasionally sent her home with bruised fingers.