Callum Parkinson: the pumped up spinner.

The 20 year old, slow left arm orthodox bowler, is always pumped up when he gets a wicket. He has one of the best celebrations in cricket. Callum Parkinson is one of the friendliest guys in cricket, and deserves the great support that he has. Formerly, a Derbyshire player, and now playing for Leicestershire, the spinner has a huge future ahead of him. 

Ironically, Callum Parkinson’s first class debut in 2016, involved Leicestershire, but Callum was playing for Derbyshire, and he made an impact. Callum Parkinson was brilliant in the first innings of his debut, taking 4 wickets for 90 runs, including the wickets of skipper Mark Cosgrove and Aussie Clint McKay. The debut did not end there, Parkinson scored 48 not out from 62 balls, batting at number 11! Parkinson took 3/88 in the second innings, claiming the wicket of Clint McKay once again. The way Callum Parkinson stepped up, on day one, was incredible. He went on to play three more games in the 2016 County Championship for Derbyshire, taking multiple wickets, including Mark Cosgrove for the second time in the season, and Ravi Bopara. Once the season had finished, Callum moved to the Foxes, and plays for Leicestershire today, and it is safe to say, he hasn’t looked back. He has been brilliant for his new club, and his performance against Worcestershire was breathtaking. In the first innings, Callum Parkinson took 8 wickets and in the second innings, he took 2 wickets, meaning a 10 wicket haul in the game. Parkinson was brilliant, a game that will make him excited to get back in action in 2018! Not only has he been great with the ball, the talented Callum Parkinson scored 75 from 95 balls at number 11 in the 2017 County Championship. 

Parkinson played every game for Leicestershire in the 2017 NatWest twenty20 Blast tournament, and claimed 15 wickets throughout the competition. Although, it was not his best figures, for me, his debut in the competition saw him most important spell. Leicestershire were playing Lancashire, and the two danger men, Liam Livingstone and international Jos Butler were scoring well, and Parkinson came on and claimed both of their wickets, ending on 2/28. Leicestershire went on to win this match, a great start in the competition, one that they did well well in. His best figures did come against Durham in the North Group, when he took 3/20, including the wicket of England legend, Paul Collingwood. Parkinson did take some important wickets in the competition as he dismissed Richard Levi, Ben Duckett and Rikki Wessels. 

Callum Parkinson does have twin brother, Matthew, who is a leg spinner for Lancashire. They did play against each other in the NatWest Twenty20 Blast this season, but did not get to bowl at each other, to their probable disappointment. One thing is for sure, this will not be the last time that they play against each other, they will set for some epic encounters against each other. Callum Parkinson has been brilliant, and has been a stand out player at Premier League level for many years. He played in the Central Lancashire League in 2014, for a club called Clifton. Callum also played for Urmston in the Cheshire Premier League in both 2012 and in 2016 and performed brilliantly. For Urmston, both Parkinson brothers were excellent, against Nantwich in 2016, Callum Parkinson took 5 wickets and his brother took 4 in the same game, an interesting read in the scorebook no doubt. 

His best figures were 5/9 against Sale, clinical bowling in a match where his twin brother also took 3 wickets. In the 2015 season, he took 60 wickets for Urmston CC, an impressive tally. Despite the levels Callum has gone on to play, he remembers his roots. The Bolton born bowler, Parkinson, has represented Staffordshire, in 2015 and 2016, and was a stand out performer. He was educated at Bolton School and Canon Slade School, and began his cricketing career at Heaton CC. Having played for his club of Heston for many years, Parkinson stood out as a junior at the club, he took many wickets for not many runs, as well as standing out with the bat. He scored 117* in the same junior game that his twin brother took 4/4. Callum did break into the first team at Heston CC at the age of 14, when he took 3/28, showing the great level of calmness and maturity that he has always had. Parkinson will continue to bowl well throughout the upcoming seasons and is going to be a prominent player for Leicestershire. Leicestershire are getting better every week, it would not surprise me next season if they are there challenging for the division 2 championship. I will be following Leicestershire closing through the winter and next season, they will have success having talented players such as Parkinson, Sayer and Chappell. Callum Parkinson is a pumped up bowler and is going to enjoy a lot of success. He doesn't forget his roots and will continue to excel and be a fan favourite at Leicestershire. The future is bright for Callum. Thank you for your support, feedback is always welcome. Next up, is Northamptonshire spin bowler, Tom Sole, in this series of young talented cricketers. We will feature many more players. Best of luck to Callum Parkinson.