England leg spinner Matt Parkinson says move from Lancashire to Kent will do him good off the field as well as on

Matt Parkinson is looking forward to resetting not just his cricketing career at Kent.

The 26-year-old England international has joined the county initially on loan during the One Day Cup ahead of a permanent three-year deal from next summer.

It was a case of now or never for the highly-rated leg spinner who made his Test debut last summer against New Zealand at Lord’s.

“Reset is a good way of describing it,” explained Parkinson, who took a wicket with his first ball on Kent soil during Sunday’s heavy defeat to Leicestershire.

“I think it’s a reset in all walks of life really. It’s 290 miles from my house, a fresh start. I’m 26-years-old and if I didn’t do it now then I don’t think I would have done it. When I knew Kent were interested it was a no-brainer.

“I’ve always done well against Kent. They showed an interest in me and a warmth. There were some other teams on the table but I think Kent was the best fit.

“For me at the stage I am at, it’s like a full life reset. I want to get down to Canterbury, miles away from friends and family. I’m looking forward to basing myself in Kent and playing for Kent for the next three years, and hopefully much longer as well.

“At the start of the season, I identified Kent as one of the clubs that I would be interested in and then luckily when June the first came along, they showed some keen interest.

“I guess Kent was a nice one because I wanted them and they seemed to want me as well, which I think is quite rare when you’re moving clubs. My team had identified them as a great fit and they seemed to think I was a great fit so fingers crossed it works.”

It’s been a stop-start season for Parkinson. Last summer he took 33 County Championship wickets for Lancashire in 10 games. This year,