Parkin played one first-class match for Yorkshire in 1906, before it was discovered that he was born twenty yards outside the county boundary.

He was a mercurial, inventive off spinner who used flight, guile and turn to dismiss batsman and demanded attacking fields from his captains.

He could be expensive, as he disdained any policy of containment against good batsmen on flat pitches and was criticised for over experimentation, but at his best he could run through any side.

He is one of the few players to have opened both the bowling and batting, against Australia at Old Trafford, for England, a remarkable performance by a spin bowler who played only 10 games.

After leaving Lancashire he returned to league cricket and continued to prove a heavy wicket taker for many years.