CALLUM Parkinson believes he is not too far behind twin brother Matthew in their development.

Both products of Heaton Cricket Club in the Bolton League, the 21-year-old spinners are impressing in county cricket, with left-armer Callum now at Leicestershire.

This winter, leg bowler Matthew shone for the England Lions and is being talked about for full international honours.

And Callum says he finds himself on the receiving end of some friendly banter from opposition county players regarding his sibling rivalry with his brother.

“I get a bit of stick from other teams," admitted Callum.

"‘You’re not as good as your brother, blah, blah’. But that’s to be expected.

“I think he gets a bit as well, certainly over his batting. He can’t hold a bat!

“Leicestershire had a friendly against Notts recently, and I got a 50. Their lads said to me ‘you’ve got your brother covered with the bat’.

“It’s just a bit of banter, and me and Matt get on really well.

“There’s never any jealousy. We’ve kind of enjoyed the journey together. It’s quite amazing to say my twin brother is a professional cricketer as well.

“The success Matt’s had has allowed me to go under the radar.

“It would be nice to be up there with him, and I don’t see myself a million miles behind. But, at the minute, he’s doing well and there’s a lot of talk about him moving forward.”

Callum, who captained a Lancashire Under-17s side including Matt and fellow Boltonian Haseeb Hameed, opted to move away from Old Trafford in 2015 to Derbyshire.

He has since moved to Leicestershire, where he took 33 wickets across all forms last summer and is a likely starter for this weekend’s County Championship opener against Sussex.

“With Lancs, it wasn’t a case of disappointment because I was never really released,” he continued. “I probably would have got on the Academy the year I left to go to Derby. I’d had quite a strong year.

“It was more a choice from myself having looked at what opportunities would be available to me in the future given the spinners that were on the staff. There was my brother, who had just signed, Parry, Kerrigan, Lilley. I just didn’t see a way through even into second-team cricket.

“If I was asked by any young cricketers coming through any system to give advice, mine would be ‘if you don’t see an end goal, get away’.”

Callum has enjoyed a productive winter both at home and abroad.

“I’ve been getting stronger and working on my action, looking to turn the ball more, which is important at Grace Road. The pitches can get quite flat there,” he said. “I’ve also worked on my batting. That’s an important part of my game.

“Before Christmas, I did a month’s net bowling at the Lions in Brisbane and Perth, which was really beneficial for me, bowling at lads who are at the top end of the English game and pushing for Test places.

“I worked with Peter Such, their lead spin coach, and took a lot of confidence from it. To be asked to go on that trip, I must be doing some things right.”

The twins have yet to play a first-team fixture against each other, although they nearly did last summer in a T20 Blast game at Liverpool. Callum played and Matthew was 12th man.

It is likely to happen on May 31 when Lancashire visit Leicestershire in the Royal London one-day Cup.

“It will be weird playing against him, but it’s something we’ll have to get used to,” added Callum.