Jim Parks: Former England and Sussex wicketkeeper-batsman dies aged 90
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Jim Parks won his first Test cap as a specialist batsman - but became an England regular in the mid-1960s after taking up wicketkeeping
Former England wicketkeeper-batsman Jim Parks, one of Sussex's greatest players, has died at the age of 90.
Parks, who featured in 46 Tests between 1954 and 1968, had been England's oldest surviving male Test cricketer at the time of his death.
He came from a cricketing family - his father Jim senior, uncle Harry and son Bobby all played first-class cricket.
After 23 years at Sussex, Parks ended his career at Somerset, finishing with 36,673 first-class runs from 739 games.
Born In Haywards Heath, Sussex, Parks was first capped by England as a specialist batsman, with a reputation as an excellent fielder, for a one-off Test in 1954.
He only took up wicketkeeping full-time in 1958, nearly a decade after his first-class debut, when Sussex needed a keeper to replace the retiring Rupert Webb.
But taking the gloves soon earned him a recall to the national side, scoring a century on his return against West Indies in Trinidad - and he became England's regular keeper in the mid-1960s.
He averaged 32.16 with the bat for England, with a highest score of 108 not out against South Africa in Durban in 1964 - and finished with a mammoth total of 1,087 first-class catches and 94 stumpings.
In 2016, Parks told Cricinfo, external: "Back then, wicketkeepers never worried about scoring hundreds. Their work behind the stumps was more important. They'd bat at nine or 10.
"Catch Bradman or George Headley for a low score and your team had a head start. Miss a stumping off one of these greats and you were in trouble."
After his retirement from playing, Parks returned to his beloved Sussex as marketing manager. He also had two spells as club president, while he managed an Old England XI, reuniting him with many of his old team-mates, for benefit and charity matches.
Sussex announced he died in hospital in Worthing on Tuesday, following a fall at home last week.
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