Gilbert Parkhouse - Test Player

Test Player

In the 1950 season, Parkhouse had what Wisden termed an "almost meteoric rise to fame", in which he beat the Glamorgan records for number of centuries in a single season and for the fastest time to 1,000 runs. With opener Phil Clift not available, Glamorgan shuffled the batting line-up around before promoting Parkhouse from No 3 to open with Emrys Davies from early June. The move was an instant success: Parkhouse scored 121 and 148 against Somerset in his first two innings as an opening batsman, the latter his highest score to date. In the next first-class match, he made 127 against Combined Services for three centuries in consecutive innings. And only 10 days later, he hit 161 against Surrey, again bettering his personal best.

This form propelled Parkhouse into the England team for the second Test in the 1950 series against the West Indies, played at Lord's. It was a somewhat makeshift side hit by injury to Denis Compton and late withdrawals by Reg Simpson and Trevor Bailey. Parkhouse batted at No 5 and faced 30 balls without scoring in the first innings against the spin of Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine before Valentine bowled him. The second innings was better: he made 48 out of a partnership of 78 for the fourth wicket with Cyril Washbrook, and was second highest scorer behind Washbrook. The innings won praise from Wisden: "Parkhouse... signalised his first Test with a very good innings, in which he showed encouraging confidence and a variety of strokes until he hit a full toss straight to silly mid off in the last over of the fourth day when wanting only two runs for 50. This mistake came at a time when thoughts were raised that Washbrook might be capable of saving the match if someone could stay with him." The victory was West Indies' first over England in England.

Returning to Glamorgan, Parkhouse equalled his best score with a second innings of 161 within a month, this time against Gloucestershire at Stradey Park, Llanelli. And in the very next game, he went one better, scoring 162 against Worcestershire at Kidderminster in a match ruined by rain.

The third Test, at Trent Bridge, followed the pattern of Parkhouse's previous match, with a disappointing first innings followed by a better second. Batting at No 3, he made 13 in a first-innings collapse that saw England at 25 for four before recovering to 223 all out. After West Indies had replied with 558, Simpson and Washbrook opened England's second innings with a stand of 212, before both were out within a quarter of an hour. "Even then," Wisden reported, "England were far from finished, for (John) Dewes and Parkhouse, without looking as safe as the first pair, batted well, and at one period the score stood 326 for two with England only nine runs behind." But then Parkhouse was out for 69, two other batsmen followed quickly and the match was lost by 10 wickets.

Ten of the 11 England team reconvened at Lord's the next day for the annual Gentlemen v Players match, often an indication of who was in the running for the Test team, and Parkhouse's 81 in the second innings almost won the match for the Players. But when the team for the fourth Test at The Oval was announced, eight of the 11, including Parkhouse, had gone, though in his case, Wisden reported, it was because he had "a bad cold". He missed 10 days of county cricket. In all cricket in the 1950 season, he made 1997 runs at an average of 45.38.

Parkhouse was then chosen for the 1950-51 Ashes series in Australia (and tour of New Zealand) under the captaincy of Freddie Brown. He was not a success. Wisden reported: "For all the polish of some of his off-side play, Parkhouse did not impress against fast bowlers and he was susceptible to the short bouncer. He shared an all-too-common fault of not putting his body right behind the ball when facing a pace attack. In his defence it must be said that illness and injuries kept him out of several key games and restricted the so valuable match practice."

Parkhouse played in only one of the first-class matches before the first Test match, and was not selected for that. He then made 58 and an unbeaten 46 in a four-day match against what was termed "An Australian XI", consisting of Arthur Morris, Keith Miller and Neil Harvey with younger players, most of whom later played Test cricket: Wisden said that Parkhouse despite "useful scores... was not at his best". The two innings got him into the Test team for the second match, played at Melbourne. In the first innings of a low-scoring match, he scored nine in a general collapse of England's upper batting order. In the second innings, batting at No 6, he made 28 as England failed by 29 runs to make a target of just 179. A score of 92, his highest of the tour, in the next match against New South Wales cemented his place in the Test side for the third match, at Sydney. But in yet another defeat for the England team, he made 25 and 15.

With the series already lost, England brought David Sheppard in to replace Parkhouse for the fourth Test, and a combination of limited opportunity and unimpressive scores meant that he did not reclaim a Test place until, on the New Zealand leg of the tour, an injury crisis brought him back to the side for the second of the two-match series. In a low-scoring match, he made 2 and 20.