An aggressive left-handed seamer, who bowls with as much venom as he bats, Wayne Parnell was earmarked for success early and spent the next few years trying to get there. Inconsistency and injury were his nemeses, however, and that led to him abandoning international cricket with South Africa and signing a three-year deal with Worcestershire as a Kolpak after the 2018 English season.

Parnell signed immediately after becoming a member of the Worcestershire side that won the T20 Blast for the first time. He had played six Tests, 65 ODIs and 40 T20 matches for South Africa, but none since October 2017.

Parnell was schooled at Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, the alma mater of Graeme and Peter Pollock, and began playing provincially when he was 12. He played at Under-13, Under-15 and Under-19 levels, and made his first-class debut for Eastern Province in 2006-07.

He was part of South Africa's Under-19 squad for the 2006 World Cup in Sri Lanka and captained them in the 2008 edition in Malaysia. Parnell led by example, taking 18 wickets - the most in the tournament - and scored useful runs in the middle-order to steer South Africa to the final.

Thereafter, he went on the Emerging Players tour of Australia before earning a call-up to the senior one-day squad for a series in early 2009. He had a modest debut against Australia, but later became the youngest player to be handed a national contract by Cricket South Africa, and soon repaid their faith.

At the 2009 World T20, Parnell snaffled nine wickets and had an economy rate of less than six. That included an impressive 4 for 13 against West Indies.

After a successful county stint with Kent, Parnell made his Test debut against England in the fourth match at the Wanderers in January 2010. He played three Tests that year and earned a lucrative IPL contract when Delhi Daredevils splashed out US$ 610,000 on him.

A groin injury, however, ruled him out of the tournament. It would impact the next summer as Parnell was unable to tour Sri Lanka in August with the South Africa A side. But he recovered in time for the ODI series against Zimbabwe at home. Parnell played just one match in the 2011 World Cup and was also part of the 2012 World T20. He was not considered for the Champions Trophy the following year.

Instead, he was given an opportunity in Tests when he was included in South Africa's team to play a must-win match against Australia in Port Elizabeth in February 2014. Parnell announced his return with a wicket off his first ball and added another two deliveries later. He, however, bowled just eight more overs before leaving the field with another groin injury.

He recovered for the World T20 a month later and played in ODIs in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Parnell played just one match in South Africa's 2015 World Cup campaign, and didn't make it to their World T20 squad a year later.

Parnell, though, dominated the domestic scene in the 2015-16 season. Despite a foot niggle, he was the third-highest wicket-taker in the one-day cup and Cobras' most successful bowler, despite playing nine of their 11 games. In the same season, Parnell opened the batting on several occasions in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge with a fair amount of success. He blossomed as the season drew to a close and took 18 wickets in the last two first-class matches to finish with 23 from five matches.
Firdose Moonda