And so far so good.
The "Gizzy Boy" was spotted in the nets as a youngster and lured north to Auckland’s King’s College on a cricket scholarship.
He shifted south to Dunedin to study accounting in 2019 and eventually forced his way into the Volts.
Parkes made his first-class debut towards the end of the 2021-22 season. But his breakthrough came last season.
The 23-year-old left-hander scored 529 runs at a solid average of 37.78, including notching a maiden century. Having established himself in the red-ball side, Parkes has made himself a first-choice player in the one-day unit with his efforts this summer.
He is the Volts’ leading scorer in the competition with 155 runs at an average of 51.67.
"I think the season started off quite slowly, to be honest," Parkes said.
"I had to find some form. I might not have been in that one-day team had it not been for some injuries.
"I had to get a chance there and do well with it."
He notched 51 against Auckland in the opening game in Invercargill in mid-November and followed up with 78 in the loss to Auckland at Eden Park Outer Oval.
"It has been good [personally]. But we’ve only had three games and we haven’t got on a roll yet."
Two of the Volts’ five games have been ruined by poor weather and they sit in fourth place (eight points) with five games remaining.
They have got some ground to make up and a win against Canterbury in Rangiora today would help.
Like the Volts, Parkes is also searching for improvement.
"There is always room to improve," he said.
"I’ve been trying to improve [against spin] just so I’m better through the middle overs, especially when I’m batting at No5. That’s the key to my game at the moment."
"I don’t think I’m the most skilful cricketer there is. But I think I can adapt to the game situation quite well and I try to be smart with what I do.
"Being in that No5 spot, being able to adapt to the different situations is important and that is a strength of my game."
Parkes had an overseas stint during the off season. He played for Crawley Cricket Club in Sussex Premier League.
"The standard was good. The comp was good. There were quite a few Kiwis there. Josh Clarkson was there, Fraser Sheet, Nic Greenwood, from Wellington, so it was a strong competition."
"I got to a bit of travelling as well."
The Volts have named a settled line-up for the match. Jacob Cumming takes the spot vacated by Hamish Rutherford, who retired at the end of the T20 campaign following a 15-year career.
Cumming will be making his list A debut if he is selected in the playing XI.
Canterbury has named a strong 12 for the match, including former Volts players Angus McKenzie and Michael Rippon.
Test discard Henry Nicholls joins the likes of Cole McConchie and Chad Bowes in a solid batting line-up, while Leo Carter is fresh from scoring a century in a warm-up game against South Africa.
The home team have more bowling depth with the likes of new Black Cap Will O’Rourke and Zak Foulkes possessing the most obvious threat.
The Volts lean heavily on seamer Jacob Duffy to take poles, while Dean Foxcroft is the most accomplished batter.
Ford Trophy
Rangiora, 10.30am
Otago: Jacob Cumming, Luke Georgeson, Dean Foxcroft, Dale Phillips, Thorn Parkes, Llew Johnson, Max Chu, Ben Lockrose, Travis Muller, Jacob Duffy, Andrew Hazeldine, Jake Gibson.
Canterbury: Chad Bowes, Henry Nicholls, Mitch Hay, Cole McConchie, Leo Carter, Michael Rippon, Bevon Jacobs, Zak Foulkes, Will O’Rourke, Fraser Sheat, Ed Nutall, Angus Mckenzie.
