George M. Parker
Encyclopedia
George Macdonald Parker (27 May 1899 in Cape Town
, Cape Province
– 1 May 1969 in Thredbo, Australia
) was a South Africa
n cricket
er who played in 2 Tests
in 1924.
He is almost unique in that two of the three first-class matches he ever played were Tests. He was qualified for South Africa only through having been born in Cape Town, and played almost all of his cricket in the Bradford League. He was not originally in the 1924 team to England. However, with bowlers possessing a high reputation on matting, like Blanckenberg and Nupen
, failing completely on English turf wickets, Parker was called in to reinforce the side for on match against Cambridge University. Although play lasted only five hours due to rain, Parker took four wickets for 34 on a pitch too soft to suit him and was promptly given a place in the First Test at Edgbaston
.
In that match, which ended disastrously as Arthur Gilligan
and Maurice Tate
produced one of the finest bowling performances in cricket history to bowl South Africa out for a mere thirty runs in their first innings, Parker was by far the best of the South African bowlers, taking six of the ten wickets that fell for 152 runs. In the second Test, which England won by the same margin of an innings and eighteen runs, Parker was the only bowler to take a wicket, taking the two wickets that fell for 121 runs in an innings declared for 531 runs.
However, Parker was not able to play in matches against counties and, despite having taken two-thirds of the wickets that had fallen the first two Tests, he was not given a further trial. He never played first-class cricket again, and soon migrated to Australia, where he lived the rest of his life.
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, Cape Province
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...
– 1 May 1969 in Thredbo, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
) was a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n 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 2 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...
in 1924.
He is almost unique in that two of the three first-class matches he ever played were Tests. He was qualified for South Africa only through having been born in Cape Town, and played almost all of his cricket in the Bradford League. He was not originally in the 1924 team to England. However, with bowlers possessing a high reputation on matting, like Blanckenberg and Nupen
Buster Nupen
Buster Nupen ; 1 January 1902 in Johannesburg, South Africa – 29 January 1977 in Johannesburg, South Africa) was one of the most enigmatic cricketers on the inter-war period....
, failing completely on English turf wickets, Parker was called in to reinforce the side for on match against Cambridge University. Although play lasted only five hours due to rain, Parker took four wickets for 34 on a pitch too soft to suit him and was promptly given a place in the First Test at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
.
In that match, which ended disastrously as Arthur Gilligan
Arthur Gilligan
Arthur Edward Robert Gilligan was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Sussex, Surrey and England....
and Maurice Tate
Maurice Tate
Maurice William Tate was a Sussex and England cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s and the leader of England's Test bowling attack for a long time during this period...
produced one of the finest bowling performances in cricket history to bowl South Africa out for a mere thirty runs in their first innings, Parker was by far the best of the South African bowlers, taking six of the ten wickets that fell for 152 runs. In the second Test, which England won by the same margin of an innings and eighteen runs, Parker was the only bowler to take a wicket, taking the two wickets that fell for 121 runs in an innings declared for 531 runs.
However, Parker was not able to play in matches against counties and, despite having taken two-thirds of the wickets that had fallen the first two Tests, he was not given a further trial. He never played first-class cricket again, and soon migrated to Australia, where he lived the rest of his life.