Gilbert Parkhouse - First-class Cricketer

First-class Cricketer

Educated at Wycliffe College at Stonehouse in Gloucestershire, Parkhouse appeared in wartime non-first-class matches for Glamorgan and also in fixtures arranged for the 1945 season. Wisden for 1946 called him "a player of splendid natural style".

He made his first-class debut in a pre-season friendly match in 1948, batting at No 3, and remained in that batting position for the whole of the season, which brought Glamorgan's first County Championship. In his first Championship game, against Essex he scored 46 and 59. In mid-season he hit his first century, 117 against Sussex at Swansea, and a week later he hit a second, 103 against Yorkshire at Hull. In his first season as a whole, despite some loss of form in August, he made 1204 runs at an average of 25.07 runs per innings, and was awarded his county cap.

Glamorgan did not retain the Championship in 1949, but Parkhouse improved his figures, making 1491 runs at an average of 33.13. He improved his personal highest score twice in the season, with 126 against Hampshire in the first Championship game of the season and, in early July, 145 on an easy-paced Trent Bridge pitch against Nottinghamshire.