Parkinson's legspin debut enhances day of innocence

Three sessions of cricket that had begun amid the happy racket of young voices as Emirates Old Trafford threw open its gates for the county's fourth Schools Open Day ended with the home members, some of their tones a trifle deeper, cheering a 19-year-old debutant leg-spinner. This was Matthew Parkinson, who marked his first spell as a county cricketer by dismissing Jonathan Trott and Varun Chopra during a 14-over spell either side of tea in which Lancashire's bowlers took six wickets for 40 runs to seize control of the game.

By the close, though, Warwickshire's Tim Ambrose and Keith Barker had restored parity in what is already a fine and fluctuating match by adding an unbroken 108 for the seventh wicket to leave their county just 106 runs in arrears on first innings. Barker was particularly quick to seize on any loose stuff sent down by Lancashire's three spinners and his unbeaten 57 has already included seven fours and a straight six, the latter struck off Arron Lilley's bowling.

It was only a pity that the schoolchildren were not still in the ground when Warwickshire's top order disintegrated. Some of them might have been curious as to how young Parkinson was causing such havoc. One or two might have been lost to cricket for the rest of their lives. All of them surely would have taken pleasure in the way the tousle-haired young spinner sprinted off towards Stretford after Jonathan Trott's firm on-drive had only edged a well-pitched leg spinner to Liam Livingstone at slip. Six overs later Parkinson was again making Imran Tahir's celebrations look restrained when Varun Chopra, who had batted well for his 59 runs, gloved an attempted sweep to wicketkeeper Croft, who grabbed the ball and held on to it.

"Matt Parkinson bowled really well," said Dougie Brown, Warwickshire's director of cricket. "He didn't bowl any bad balls which is unusual for a young leg-spinner making his way in the game. Leg spin is a difficult art to master and he put a lot of pressure on us."

Then again, perhaps all the excitement of the afternoon would have been a little too much for the young spectators, many of whom had watched the morning's cricket quite happily. For by the time Parkinson took his wickets, Kyle Jarvis had already got rid of both Andy Umeed and Ian Bell with successive deliveries, Umeed edging to Tom Smith at second slip, Bell nicking off to Livingstone at first. Jarvis has the wonderful ability to move the ball off the seam just enough to induce the fatal error and he has now taken 30 Championship wickets.

The mayhem of the afternoon was deepened even further in the middle of Parkinson's first over when a loud buzzing from Old Trafford's PA system caused the players to take an early tea. There was really little doubt that the noise was disturbing, as much because of its intermittence as its volume, but the silencing of the electrics did nothing to halt Warwickshire's slide.

Soon after the resumption Parkinson struck his two blows from the Statham End and in the next over Smith followed Jarvis's example by taking wickets with successive deliveries. Sam Hain edged a catch to a diving Croft and Rikki Clarke was lbw to his first ball. Only a man in desperate search of an argument could have disputed Jeff Evans's decision.

Warwickshire's collapse and recovery had followed a morning and early afternoon in which Lancashire took their overnight 196 for 4 to 308 all out, Croft making his first century of the season before he gave a leg side catch to Ambrose off Clarke. Three overs earlier, Karl Brown, having helped Croft add 143 runs for the seventh wicket, was lbw for the sixth time in nine innings this season, albeit that he had by then made a valuable 61. What should be more concerning for the abundantly talented Brown is that he has reached fifty 24 times in his career but has only gone on to make a century on two occasions. He has the conversion rate of a belligerent Quaker.

None of this mattered too much to the young spectators at Old Trafford and it was right that it did not. It would be easy to talk about the noise the children made or the way they raced around in obedience to the fleeting priorities of the moment. What was more important was that they had a good time at the cricket and that they may come back.

Lilley struck a couple of boundaries and both were cheered to the echo, something which does not happen that often in Delph and Dobcross, where Lilley plays his club cricket. If even one in fifty of the children who watched Lancashire and Warwickshire battle for supremacy on his second morning, were attracted by the four-day game and want to see more of it, Lancashire's initiative will have been worth it.

The cynicism of experience is easy and cheap. The innocence of childhood is precious and priceless. Wordsworth put it best.