The selection of Jim Parks to play his second Test match for England in 1960 marked the beginning of a trend towards the pre-eminence of wicketkeeper-batsmen in international cricket. Before then, Test sides had generally opted for specialist keepers who were not necessarily much good with the bat. While Parks, who has died aged 90, was no slouch behind the stumps, he was chosen ahead of technically better exponents of the art. His subsequent successes set the standard for those who followed, from Alan Knott to Alec Stewart and Jonny Bairstow.
In his early years he was not even a wicketkeeper. At Sussex from 1949 onwards he had been a batsman who could bowl a bit – until one afternoon in 1958 he kept wicket for fun during the final session of a dead match against Middlesex. His captain, Robin Marlar, then offered Parks the job ahead of the regular keeper, Rupert Webb, whose career batting average was just 11.72, and was due to retire.
