Peter Howard Parfitt (born 8 December 1936) is an English former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. He attended

Fakenham Grammar School The Fakenham Academy (formerly Fakenham Grammar School and Fakenham High School and College) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located at Field Lane Fakenham, Norfolk, England. The school offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of ...

, and King Edward VII Grammar School, in

Kings Lynn, Norfolk King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

. The cricket correspondent Colin Bateman noted, "he was a stocky, powerful left-handed batsman, happy to take on the quicks, and he made a dramatic impact in Test cricket despite his misgivings".

Life and career

Parfitt was an all round sportsman, playing for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

reserves at

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and cricket at

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

level, before Middlesex offered him a playing contract. Batting left-handed and bowling right-arm off-breaks, Parfitt played for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

between 1956 and 1972, captaining the team from 1968 to 1970. He played in 37

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

between 1962 and 1972, and was one of the

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1963. He made four centuries in five consecutive Tests against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 1962, but was used as a makeshift

opener Opener, Open'er or Openers may refer to: * Opener (album), ''Opener'' (album), an album by 8mm * Opener (baseball), a baseball strategy to use a relief pitcher to start a game * Open'er Festival, a contemporary music festival held in Gdynia, Poland ...

in the 1962–63 Ashes series in Australia and failed. A left-handed batsman, right-arm off-break bowler and fine fielder, he was judged to be one of the most exciting strokemakers of his generation. Parfitt took over the captaincy at Middlesex when

Fred Titmus Frederick John Titmus (24 November 1932 – 23 March 2011) was an English cricketer, whose first-class career, mostly for Middlesex with a short stint for Surrey, spanned five decades. He was the fourth man after W.G. Grace, Wilfred Rhode ...

stood down, but was not pleased to have only two seasons in charge, before

Mike Brearley John Michael Brearley (born 28 April 1942) is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England. He was the captain of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1979 Cricket World ...

took over the role. He scored almost 27,000 runs in first-class cricket. Parfitt retired from the sport at the age of 35, a decision he later regretted. After cricket he ran a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

on the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

border, and later became involved in hospitality at Test matches. After selling that business, Parfitt became an

after-dinner speaker Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

References

External links

* 1936 births Living people England Test cricketers English cricketers English cricketers of 1946 to 1968 English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 20th-century English sportsmen Middlesex cricket captains Norfolk cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year People from Billingford, Breckland Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Combined Services cricketers Players cricketers Presidents of Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex cricketers D. H. Robins' XI cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers Cricketers from Norfolk {{England-cricket-bio-stub