The stats behind Parkinson's wicket taking record
Tue 20 Jul 2021
Callum Parkinson overtook Leicestershire Foxes legend Claude Henderson in becoming the standalone leading T20 wicket taker for the Running Foxes, with 70 T20 wickets to his name.
The Leicestershire County Cricket Club record books were re-written against Worcestershire Rapids on Sunday, July 18, 2021, as Parkinson claimed his 70th wicket in the shortest format, dismissing Daryl Mitchell for 14.
The Rapids man looked to send the Foxes’ record-breaker over long off for four but guided his drive straight to the hands of Arron Lilley who took the simple catch running in.
The Foxes left-arm spinner broke the record in just his fifth season as a Running Fox, coincidentally, his most productive season in T20 cricket, with 18 wickets to his name, surpassing his previous season bests of 15 recorded in both 2017 and 2018.
With 70 wickets now to his name in T20 cricket, we take a look at the stats behind the Club’s new T20 leading wicket taker.
Venue
Parkinson has taken 28 wickets at Grace Road over the past five years, equalling 40%, far and away the most common venue for the left-arm spinner to take a T20 wicket.
The most common away ground for Parkinson to take a T20 wicket is up North at Chester-le-Street with 11%, or eight wickets, being claimed at the home of Durham. Most recently, Parkinson claimed the wicket of David Bedingham in the 2021 Vitality Blast victory.
A close second on the list is at the home of Midlands rivals, Notts Outlaws, at Trent Bridge, where the Foxes’ vice-captain has claimed 10% of his wickets, equating to 7 poles. The most notable wicket being that of former-England batsman, Alex Hales, in the 2020 quarter-final.
Opposition
Parkinson has recently grown in stature within the Running Foxes’ white-ball teams and has often led the way in T20 cricket, bowling in the powerplay and claiming crucial wickets at big moments within fixtures.
There is no team that Parkinson loves to take a wicket against more than Notts Outlaws, with 23%, or 16 wickets coming against the Trent Bridge side.
Similar to his venue figures, Durham Cricket are also one of Parkinson’s more favoured sides to claim wickets against with 17%, or 12 wickets, coming against them.
Opposition Player
He has claimed 52 individual scalps during his five seasons with Leicestershire Foxes, with some big names in his repertoire, including the likes of Jos Buttler, Joe Root, D’Arcy Short, Dan Christian, Alex Hales and Mohammad Nabi to name a few.
Statistically, his favourite player to dismiss is Ben Duckett, with 6% (4) of his wickets coming against the England international.
Notts Outlaws duo Alex Hales and Tom Moores also join their teammate, along with Adam Lyth of Yorkshire Vikings as his favoured players to dismiss with all three individually equalling 4% (3) of his wickets.
Wickets by Dismissal Method
As often happens in the shortest format, the most common way Parkinson has claimed his wickets is through the safe hands of his teammates. Over half of his wickets have come via catches by his colleagues, with 56% (39) of his 70 recorded in this way.
In second, Parkinson’s skill with the ball comes to the fore with 24% (17) of his wickets are clean bowled.
The remaining 13 wickets come via stumped (11%, 8), LBW (6%, 4) and caught & bowled (3%, 2).
Wickets by Phase
In recent years, Parkinson has become an integral part to the Running Foxes’ attack, often opening the bowling and keeping the opposition’s run-rate down during the opening powerplay overs.
Parkinson often gets his Running Foxes teammates off to a quick start, claiming 20% (14) of his wickets within the opening phase of play.
Most recently, County’s victory over Durham at Chester-le-Street on July 2 got underway with the quick wicket of David Bedingham after 0.4 overs.
The rest of his wickets have come in the middle passage of the fixture, prior to the death overs with the remaining 80% (56) of his wickets coming between overs 7 and 16, often setting up a grandstand finish for his death-over bowling teammates.
