Parfitt from England made great friends in Lanka too!

By A.C. De Silva

Remember Peter Parfitt - the England cricketer? Well, he made it good in the England cricket team after a rush call for him to join the England cricket team when it was somewhat depleted in strength with injuries on their tour of India in 1964 and Parfitt was one of the replacements for injured player and the other replacement was Colin Cowdrey. Besides his top grade Test cricket, Parfitt had time for Sri Lanka (Ceylon then) and was here in the 1960s.

This was Parfitt's second trip to India, as he was in India earlier with Ted Dexter's team a few years before.

Parfitt was born on December 8th 1936, at Billingford in Norfolk, will be 77 years (next Sunday - 8th).

This sudden call-up for Parfitt when he was 20 years old on the ground staff of Lord's and then he progressed as a top cricketer by 1959 and turned out to be one of the ablest of the country's all-rounders, a competent, attractive left-hand batsman, a useful right-arm bowler and a brilliant slip fieldman. In 1959 itself Parfitt became a instant success as he scored 1,500 runs and snapped up any number of catches at slip, that he was chosen to tour India with the M.C.C. team in 1961-62.

By the merit of his performances, Parfitt forced himself to the teams for the fourth and fifth Tests and at once established himself both with his solid skill with the bat and with his close-in fielding. He proved that he was a man for a crisis and could bat with great determination.

Like a birthday present entry to cricket

So, it was more or less like a birthday present that he was taken into the cricketing scene after his birth on December 8th in 1936.

After the tour of India, it was time to host the Pakistan cricketers in England. He scored four centuries against them, three in the Tests; he totalled 2,121 runs for the season with eight centuries and claimed 26 catches in his favourite position. With such a record he was an automatic choice for the English tour to Australia in 1962-63 but over there he suffered a lapse of form common to almost all cricketers.

This affected his chances when the West Indies toured England in that summer, and though, in the county matches he contributed his progress he could not find a place in the original team to India.

But how somebody's misfortune proved his good luck and how well he seized his opportunity to re-establish himself.

A look at the scores will paint a better picture. He played extremely well in the Delhi and Kanpur Tests, playing in the latter match, made a plendid knock of 121 runs. A look at the stocky, square-jawed Parfitt is enough to give the impression of a strong man on whom a team can place full faith. At the crease, whether defending or attacking, he gives a sense of security while a pleasing style gives colour to whatever he does. Standing at slip or other close-in positions he give the bowler the same support and snapping up even half-chances enables him to gather wickets.

His second Indian visit added much to Parfitt's ability to move about and then he came over to Ceylon as we were then known, on business matter and also included cricket to his business schedule to have some interesting outings.

Parfitt a drawcard

Peter Parfitt turned out to be a lovable character and he was a guest of the Thomian cricketers way back in the year 1963 when he came over to Ceylon as a representative of Alexander Duckham and Company of London and he was in Sri Lanka as a guest of Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited.

Apart from his official work, Parfitt gave his time to the game of cricket and he was the guest of S.Thomas' College through the good offices of Donald Fairweather who was a representative of Duckham and Company here in Ceylon in those early days.

Besides the official work, there was cricket too involved and Parfitt, the M.C.C. Cricketer, gave a practical demonstration and a later a lecture to the cricketers of the then Thomian team at the Tebuwana Planters Club.

In a friendly match, Parfitt scored 36 for the Old Thomians of Kalutara and the South when he was persuaded to bat by the chief organiser of the match Manicam Thambapillai against the Thomian cricketers.

Parfitt's visit to Sri Lanka was merely on friendly grounds and he played some golf besides his friendly cricket match too.