SA LEGENDS: Do you remember...................Sam Parkinson

Samuel David Haslam Parkinson
Born August 8, 1960, Adelaide, South Australia

Major teams South Australia
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Left-arm fast-medium

Batting and fielding averages Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
First-class 36 44 13 376 62 12.12 0 1 15 0
List A 10 3 0 13 8 4.33 0 0 3 0

Bowling averages Mat Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
First-class 36 6451 3473 102 7/98 34.04 3.23 63.2 4 0
List A 10 395 284 5 2/43 2/43 56.80 4.31 79.0 0 0 0

Samuel David Haslam Parkinson (born 8 August 1960) is a former Australian cricketer. Parkinson was a left-handed batsman who bowled left-arm fast-medium. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia.

Parkinson played for Buckinghamshire 1981, making his debut for the English county in the Minor Counties Championship against Oxfordshire. He made 9 further appearances for Buckinghamshire in that season, the last of which came against Hertfordshire. He returned home for the Australian summer where he debuted for South Australia, the side he would go on to play all of his Sheffield Shield cricket for.

For much of the 1980s, South Australian fast bowler Sam Parkinson was terrorising batsmen right around Australia.

Before reaching national level, Sam played district cricket in Adelaide with the Kensington District Cricket Club, leading them to a premiership. He was also the recipient of the Bradman Medal, an award given to the most outstanding district cricketer each season. After beginning with Kensington, he remains there today as their Vice- President, as well as a life member of the club.

In that first summer with SA he was part of the team that went on to win the Sheffield Shield trophy.

He played 36 matches until his retirement in 1988, by which time he had notched up 102 wickets. He had a bowling average of just over 34, with his best haul coming against Western Australia in the 1982/83 season, taking 7/98 in an innings.

His work with the bat at the tail end saw him average just over 12 runs an innings, but he did get to raise the bat once, after a knock of 62 against Tasmania in 1985/86.

While never being selected to play for his country, in his second last season Sam was a part of a SA team that was selected to tour New Zealand.

Nowadays, as well as being involved in his own marketing company, Sam is also a sporting goods distributor and a member of both the SA Cricket Association board (SACA) and a SACA fundraising subcommittee.

"I'm still really involved in cricket, just not in the physical sense of playing the game," he said.
"I'd love to be, but the body just doesn't hold up for it anymore."

I see him a bit in one of the local pubs in Victor Harbor from time to time.

New South Wales Colts v South Australia Colts
January 1980
Sydney

Some interesting names in this match

NS 167
Bennett B Parkinson 6
Wellham b Mark Harrison 0
Geise 100
Parkinson 3/28

Murray Bennett played for Australia as a left hand spinner, opened the batting
Dirk Welham made 100 on debut for Australia
Mark Harrison is the son of Colin Blackjack Harrison off Woodville ilk
Mark was also Ronnie Fullers offsider at the Eagles in the SANFL
A few years earlier at Findon High School I faced Mark, a tearaway fast bowler with a slithering outswinger, I made 30 odd against him, if only i gave up gambling ,grog and women I might have made this team !

SA 179
Wayne Flipper Phillips 62 [ now doing venue commentating at AAMI stadium footy games]
Harrison 38
Parkinson 0
Mark Haysman 8 [now in South Africa as a cricket commentator]


NS 219
McKeogh 58
Bennett 26
Welham 19
Parkinson 3/36
Harrison 3/65

SA needed 196 to win this game
Marsh 58
Haysman 25
Phillips 13
Harrison 19

SA were 8/161 when Slamming Sam Parkinson came out to bat
SA got to 9/190 when Slammimg Sammy was joined by Ian Carmichael
6 runs to get
And the boys got the extra 6 runs needed
Slamming Sam made 28 not out batting at 10

Sams match figures
3/28 [9]
0
3/36[21]
28 not out

I wonder if the teenage rampager had a beer after this game ...

Sam used to frequent some of the bars and clubs that I did in those times
A very jovial , a very happy lad indeed

Short in stature he didnt fit the build of a fast bowler, but Parkinson 'shook' up lots of batsman in his time
To average 34.04 with the ball , bowling on Adelaide Oval a fair bit ends up being a good average
Sam took 102 wickets
One of the great entertainers on and off the field

SA and NS had 7 players each in the line ups that played first class cricket
SA
Wayne Phillips
Mark Haysman
John Davey
Robert Dugan
Mal Dolman
Sam Parkinson
Ian Carmichael

Buckinghamshire v Bedfordshire
August 1982
Stowe

BUCK 6/192 DEC
Sam did not bat

BED 5/198 DEC
Sam 0/6 [1.3 overs] and was injured

BUCK 9/125
A meagre lead of 119
I will try and paint a picture of what might have happened
Slamming Sam courageously came in to bat at eleven
He joined Tim Russell in an attempt to find more runs
The last wicket stand of 29 took the Bucks to a lead of 148
Sam defied the Beds for 10 valuable runs

BEDS 2nd dig needing 148 to win
Sam did not bowl
1/0
2/24
3/38
4/59
5/68
6/94
7/119
8/130
9/143

Tailenders Blott and Mcfarlane needed to score 5 runs for a win
Blott blotted himself getting run out
The Beds finished on 147
Lost by 1 run

Slamming Sams runs batting eleven made a difference !

South Australia v New South Wales
Adelaide Oval
November 1981

This was Slamming Sams debut for South Australia

SA 9/551
Jeff Crowe 157
David Hookes 106

Sam came in at 7/519
Sam made 26 off 31 balls

From this point on Sam Parkinson made history in one of crickets rarest feats

NS were 2/220
Rick Mckosker 90
John Dyson 108
Trevor Chappell 4 not out
Dirk Wellham 7 not out

At this point the match concluded
Sam stood up to the mighty New South Welshmen batters
He took 2/69 off 34.2 overs
The rest of the bowling attack took 0/140

And Sam did make history
The only or few  bowlers on debut to take all New South wickets that fell in a SS match!

Happy Birthday to Slamming Sam today
53 years young

Shares his birthday with the late Australian cricketer Jack Ryder

Sams 3rd birthday in 1963 was the same date when Ronnie Biggs and associates took part in the Great Train Robbery in England