Matt Parkinson, a tousle-haired legspinner, became the youngest Lancashire player to take five wickets on his first-team debut - following in the footsteps of Simon Kerrigan who also achieved it for the county six years earlier - when he claimed 5 for 49 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 2016. Jonathan Trott, caught at slip, was an illustrious first victim in a display, spread over two days, that was most striking for the absence of loose balls. He also claimed a small place in cricket oddities when his first over in the Championship was interrupted by a mysterious buzzing sound over the PA system which was loud enough to force the players to take an early tea.

Parkinson, like his Lancashire and England Under-19 team-mate Haseeb Hameed, is an alumnus of Bolton School; the pair were in the same year, and both left after finishing their A-levels. He was briefly in competition for a place at Lancashire with his brother, Callum, who had skippered Lancashire U-17s to a league and cup double, but soon departed to Derbyshire and then Leicestershire in quick succession.

Matt's progress continued in 2016 as he made the most of his opportunities to finish second in Lancashire's averages in both the Championship and T20 competitions. He won an ECB overseas placement with Gordon, the Australian club for which another young English leggie, Mason Crane, had excelled a year earlier.

ESPNcricinfo staff