Parkinson 'gutted' to miss out on South Africa tour
Nov 22, 2020
London [UK], November 22 : Spinner Matt Parkinson said he was 'gutted' after missing out on England's limited-overs squad for South Africa tour.
The 24-year-old made his T20I debut in November last year while he played his first One Day International (ODI) in February this year. He was included in England's team for Ireland series but he missed the series after suffering an injury on the eve of a warm-up match and was then omitted from the squad to face South Africa this month.
"I was gutted not to be selected. It was an odd summer, really. I did not really know where I stood [with England] when I came back to play for Lancashire. I think if you spoke to a lot of the young lads on the fringes, [they'd say] it was quite a tough summer to see where you fitted in, just due to the lack of cricket we played," ESPNcricinfo quoted Parkinson as saying.
"To be fit in the whole of lockdown and then get so close to the season... it was stinking timing. I think I played 11 T20 games. I started a bit slowly but I thought I might have pushed my case in them with a decent finish and I was hoping I could sneak on as a back-up spinner to Rash [Adil Rashid] but obviously it was not to be," he added.
Despite the disappointment, the spinner believes that the current squad is fantastic and very tough to break in and added that he is committed to keep working hard on his skills.
"It was Ed Smith who rang me. He did not really give too much feedback but he would have been making the same phone call to 10 or 15 lads. Obviously, the squad that they have taken is fantastic and is a very tough one to break into, so all I can do is keep working. There are areas that I know I need to work on, and those are the things he stressed," Parkinson said.
England and South Africa are slated to lock horns in three ODIs and three T20Is. The first T20I will be played on Friday, November 27 at Cape Town.
