Jim the thoroughbred stretched his legs yesterday and filled eight places at the quaintly named Toss O Coin pub near Holmfirth. A car bringing a trio from Leeds joined with five from Huddersfield to enjoy an excellent lunch and conversation, mainly but not exclusively on cricketing matters. While we waited for our first course some clues helped reveal the answers to the quiz question I posed in last week's posting, namely to name Geoff Pullar's six opening partners. The six were:
Colin Cowdrey (8 tests) Ramon Subba Row (7)Rev David Sheppard (5) Peter Richardson (5) RW Barber (1) and the first shall be last for the most elusive but helped by a clue as generous as the jam roly poly on offer the name of Gilbert Parkhouse (2) was extracted. The Welshman, born close to the St Helen's ground in Swansea had a strange test career for his seven matches were stretched over nine years.
Parkhouse began by making a better fist than most of fathoming the wiles of Ramadin and Valentine in 1950 but was left out after two tests when suffering from a bad cold. Wisden was uncharitable about his efforts in Australia under FR Brown in 50/51 claiming a weakness against the short stuff but his average of 19.25 was superior to that of four other specialist batsmen, Washbrook, Sheppard, Compton and Dewes. He was recalled for one test in New Zealand but fell twice for modest scores to Tom Burtt's slow left arm. For the next seven years Parkhouse was neglected by the selectors but established himself as an attractive fast scoring opener for his native county.
After the disastrous 58/59 tour of Australia Englan's selectors used the weak Indian tourists in the glorious summer of 1959 to experiment at the top of the order and five openers were used, Arthur Milton, Ken Taylor, Geoff Pullar, Subba Row and perhaps most surprisingly WGA Parkhouse. After the Milton Taylor partnership was tried in two tests the selectors double declutched and paired Pullar with Parkhouse for the third and fourth tests. At Headingley where England won by an innings they added 146 with Gilbert hitting his top test score of 78 and Pullar, normally a number three, on his debut made 75. They were less successful at Old Trafford where their two efforts were 33 and 44 but in attempting to play himself onto the boat to the West Indies Parkhouse batted 'listlessly' for his second innings 49 and the scorebook entry 'ct Contractor bowled Nadkarni' signalled the end of his nine year test career. He was replaced by Subba Row at The Oval and the Northamptonshire man's 94 ensured he, rather than Parkhouse would spend a winter in the Caribbean.
Parkhouse returned to the valleys for a further five years and then took up a coaching appointment at a prestigious Edinburgh school. The new vintage of summer wine went our separate ways after two hours of pub grub and chat, some of us envious of those for whom the next few weeks will be spent watching cricket in Australia, New Zealand and West Indies. Bon voyage.
Library photograph which means we've used it before but with gale force winds blowing outside I thought it better than a picture of my fence which has lost both middle and leg stumps this week.
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