Jim Parks senior
Encyclopedia
James Horace "Jim" Parks (12 May 1903, Haywards Heath
, Sussex
– 21 November 1980, Cuckfield
, Sussex) was a cricketer
who played for Sussex
and England
.
He is referred to as Jim Parks senior
, because his son, James Michael Parks
, was also a successful Sussex
, Somerset
and England cricketer. In addition, his brother Harry played for Sussex and his grandson Bobby
played for Hampshire
.
Parks was a right-handed opening batsman and a medium-pace bowler of inswingers. He was a regular member of the Sussex county team from 1927 and scored 1,000 runs in every season except one up to 1939, when his first-class
career ended with the Second World War. In 1935, he did the all-rounder's "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, but nothing in Parks' career suggested he was an out-of-the-ordinary county cricketer — until 1937.
In that year, by scoring 3,003 runs and taking 101 wickets in the season, he set a record that is all but certain never to be equalled. Only 13 cricketers have scored more than 2,000 runs and taken 100 wickets in an English season; no other cricketer has ever taken 100 wickets while scoring 3,000 runs. His run total included 11 centuries and he also took 21 catches. Having earlier in his career been termed "solid", Parks revealed in 1937 a full range of previously unsuspected strokes and was praised by Wisden
for his "enterprise".
Parks was called up for the 1937 Test match
against New Zealand
at Lord's alongside another debutant, Leonard Hutton. He scored 22 and 7 and took three wickets, but was never chosen again. Unsurprisingly, he was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1938.
After World War II
, Parks played Lancashire League cricket and he was coach at Sussex for a period in the 1960s.
Haywards Heath
-Climate:Haywards Heath experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Rail:Haywards Heath railway station is a major station on the Brighton Main Line...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
– 21 November 1980, Cuckfield
Cuckfield
Cuckfield is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Haywards Heath to the southeast and Burgess...
, Sussex) was a cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
who played for Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
and England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
.
He is referred to as Jim Parks senior
Jim Parks senior
James Horace "Jim" Parks was a cricketer who played for Sussex and England....
, because his son, James Michael Parks
Jim Parks junior
Jim Parks is an English former cricketer. He played in forty six Tests for England, between 1954 and 1968...
, was also a successful Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
, Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
and England cricketer. In addition, his brother Harry played for Sussex and his grandson Bobby
Bobby Parks (cricketer)
Robert James Parks is a former English cricketer who played for Hampshire and Kent. He is the grandson of Jim Parks senior and son of Jim Parks junior. A wicketkeeper, Parks kept wicket for England during a Test against New Zealand at Lord's in 1986 as a substitute for Bruce French...
played for Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
.
Parks was a right-handed opening batsman and a medium-pace bowler of inswingers. He was a regular member of the Sussex county team from 1927 and scored 1,000 runs in every season except one up to 1939, when his first-class
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...
career ended with the Second World War. In 1935, he did the all-rounder's "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, but nothing in Parks' career suggested he was an out-of-the-ordinary county cricketer — until 1937.
In that year, by scoring 3,003 runs and taking 101 wickets in the season, he set a record that is all but certain never to be equalled. Only 13 cricketers have scored more than 2,000 runs and taken 100 wickets in an English season; no other cricketer has ever taken 100 wickets while scoring 3,000 runs. His run total included 11 centuries and he also took 21 catches. Having earlier in his career been termed "solid", Parks revealed in 1937 a full range of previously unsuspected strokes and was praised by Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
for his "enterprise".
Parks was called up for the 1937 Test match
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...
against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
at Lord's alongside another debutant, Leonard Hutton. He scored 22 and 7 and took three wickets, but was never chosen again. Unsurprisingly, he was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1938.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Parks played Lancashire League cricket and he was coach at Sussex for a period in the 1960s.