Bobby Parks (cricketer)
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Robert James Parks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 June 1959 Cuckfield, Sussex, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Jim Parks junior (father) Jim Parks senior (grandfather) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980–1992 | Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993 | Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 30 September 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert 'Bobby' James Parks (born 15 June 1959) is a former English first-class cricketer who played for Hampshire County Cricket Club.
Playing career[edit]
The son of the England Test cricketer Jim Parks junior, he was born in June 1959 at Cuckfield, Sussex. His grandfather, Jim Parks senior, was also a Test cricketer. When his father was playing for Sussex, Parks was educated at Eastbourne Grammar School,[1] but was later educated at Taunton School when his father played for Somerset later in his career.[2] He then proceeded to study at the Southampton Institute of Technology.[1] After briefly playing for the Somerset Second XI, he joined Hampshire in 1976, where he would spend the next four years as an understudy to regular wicket-keeper Bob Stephenson.[2] Parks made his debut for the Hampshire first team against Sussex at Southampton in the 1980 County Championship.[3] He featured regularly for Hampshire in the closing weeks of the 1980 season as Stephenson stepped down from his wicket-keeping duties,[4] making six further appearances in the County Championship,[3] in addition to playing five List A one-day matches in the 1980 John Player League.[5] Following Stephenson's retirement at the end of the 1980 season, Parks became Hampshire's first choice wicket-keeper.
A wicketkeeper, Parks kept wicket for England during a Test against New Zealand at Lord's in 1986 as a substitute for Bruce French.[6] He helped Hampshire to win the 1986 John Player Special League and the 1988 Benson & Hedges Cup, and was part of an "English Counties XI" tour of Zimbabwe in 1984–5,[7]
Parks played for Hampshire between 1980 and 1992.[8] He made 700 wicket-keeping dismissals for the club, setting a club record.[6] In 1993 he played briefly for Kent, making one first-class and one List A match, both at Maidstone in early July.[8][9]
Coaching career[edit]
Parks coached the France national cricket team in 1998.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Carlaw, Derek (2020). Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part Three: 1946–1999 (PDF). Cardiff: ACS. pp. 270–71.
- ^ a b "One In – One Out". www.hampshirecrickethistory.wordpress.com. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ a b "First-Class Matches played by Bobby Parks". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ "Six-Hit Bob is axed". Daily Mirror. London. 9 August 1980. p. 32. Retrieved 6 June 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "List A Matches played by Bobby Parks". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ a b c Bobby Parks, CricInfo. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
- ^ "English Counties XI in Zimbabwe: Feb/Mar 1985". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ a b Bobby Parks, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
- ^ Fairall B (1993) Cricket: Champions ground down by Kent, The Independent, 1993-07-02. Retrieved 2018-09-30.