Parnell set for County cricket stint

Finishing as the leading wickettaker for the Edmonton Royals after a long injury-enforced hiatus was the highlight for Wayne Parnell at the recently completed Global T20 Canada tournament.

Parnell, former Warriors and South African all-rounder and now Cobras player, cherished the month in which he played for the Royals after being on the sidelines from January to July with a shoulder injury.

“It was encouraging to be back again after the long lay-off and finishing as the leading wicket-taker was good,” the former Grey High pupil said.

Remarkably, Parnell showed little signs of rust after a fivemonth period on the sidelines.

He lost his national contract in 2018, but Parnell is philosophical about that, saying it provided him with new opportunities in the Global T20 Canada league as well as playing county cricket.

Parnell left for a brief stint with English first-division county Worcestershire on Monday.

“My goal is to get Worcestershire to the quarterfinal of their T20 league and to keep them in the first division, as they are currently in last place,” he said.

The hard-hitting allrounder said he had been working on a few technical things regarding his bowling, which is centred around consistency, but which also involves the ability to swing the ball.

Last year, when he played for Kent, he swung the Duke ball quite a bit.

At the Global T20 Canada League, Parnell captured 3/23 against the Montreal Tigers in a closely contested match which went the Tigers’ way after a four-for by Peter Siddle.

He also nipped out 2/24 in the win against the Toronto Nationals.

Parnell said his overall goal was to hit the ground running at Worcestershire and to return in September to help make the Cobras an even bigger force.