Indian Summer
The 1959 season saw a significant return to form for Parkhouse, and the style of his batting and the quick runs that he and Hedges made as the county's opening partnership were factors, in Wisden's view, in Glamorgan's rise from the depths of the County Championship in 1958 to challenge for the title. By mid-season, Parkhouse had already made four centuries and, in a season of Test experimentation against a modest Indian side following a disastrous Ashes tour of Australia the previous winter, the England selectors picked him, alongside the young left-handed Lancashire batsman Geoff Pullar, as a new opening partnership for the third Test at Leeds. Wisden reported that the new partnership "proved highly satisfactory". The 146 the pair put on in their first innings together "was England's best start in 26 Tests and the highest for the first wicket against India". Parkhouse made 78 and Pullar 75, and England won by an innings.
Parkhouse and Pullar were retained for the fourth Test, at Old Trafford, and Pullar took advantage to score 131, the first century by a Lancastrian for England on his home ground. Parkhouse mistimed a hook in the first innings and was out for 17. In the second innings after England had not enforced the follow-on, India bowled defensively and the cricket was dull: "Parkhouse and Pullar, both anxious to gain places in the M.C.C. team to tour West Indies, declined to take risks and the purposeless cricket was derided by the majority of the crowd of 13,000," Wisden reported. Parkhouse made 49, which was the highest score of the innings. But it was his last innings as a Test player: he was replaced for the fifth Test by Raman Subba Row, and was not picked for the winter tour.
Despite this, the 1959 was Parkhouse's best in first-class cricket, surpassing even his 1950 season. He made in all 2243 runs, the only time he passed 2000 runs in a season and his average of 48.76 runs per innings put him ninth on the first-class list for the season among county players.
Read more about this topic: Gilbert Parkhouse
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