Kent spinner Matt Parkinson feels there’s no easy time to bowl in T20 cricket anymore.
The former Lancashire leg-spinner has been speaking about how the short format of the game has evolved, even since he made his debut as a teenager in 2017.
It’s a different game now according to 28-year-old Parkinson, who has six T20 international appearances to his name with England.
“I think they hit it a lot further,” said Parkinson. “There doesn’t seem to be a grace period anymore.
“I feel like when I first played, it might have been because I played at Old Trafford, a big ground, but you felt like from overs seven to ten, you got milked a little bit.
“That doesn’t happen anymore. A lot more lads play reverse sweeps, scoops and stuff.
“I have to do a lot more research now. I think there’s a lot of young players that come in and there’s no grace period from them.
“You can do all the research you want, if someone goes on the back foot and hits it for six over extra, then you’re back to square one, really, aren’t you?
“So, I think that’s changed a lot. There’s a lot more flair in the game now.”
Spitfires resume their Blast campaign at home to Sussex Sharks today (Friday).
They sit well placed in the south group after the opening eight games but need to press home the good start they’ve made to book their place in the quarter-finals.
After a two-week break for County Championship action, Kent will be keen to follow-up their last Blast match, a comprehensive win at bottom side Essex when Parkinson picked up career-best figures of 5-23.
“It’d be nice to get on a roll,” said Parkinson. “We beat Essex last time and they haven’t won a game yet so it’d be nice if they beat some of the teams at the top!
“I think we just need to keep our heads down. It’s hard to work out the table because they’ve changed the rules (with four points for a win now), so you don’t know what’s good and what’s not.
“I think it’s about 30 points and you’ll be close to it, if it’s the same as last year.
“It’s one of the best squads I’ve been a part of. We’ve got some players who are hitting form at the right time, as well.”
Parkinson has been working hard on his bowling and knows he needs to adapt with so many big-hitting batters around.
“I’ve done a bit of work recently,” he said. “I’ve sort of changed a couple of things. I’ve been working with Adam Hollioake and the coaches here to look to improve.
“I’ve been playing for a long time, but you have to grow and you can’t just stay stagnant.”
Parkinson has been in and out of the Kent team this season, although he’d probably expect that at the start of an English summer.
Green pitches don’t encourage spin bowling but while he’s frustrated by the lack of gametime, Parkinson knows what to expect.
“It’s obviously been a stop-start season, but to get a run in now has been fantastic,” he said.
“As a leg spinner, it happens in England. We play on grounds with 20mm of grass on, so you do learn to deal with it, I guess.
“It’s been a tricky season, I’ve not played as much as I would have liked and I felt a bit stop-start. Hopefully I can do well at the back end of the Blast. I feel like I’m hitting the ground running now nicely for the rest of the season.”
Kent visit Glamorgan in the Blast on Sunday before the return match with Sussex at Hove on Wednesday.
