James Franklin

James Franklin started his career as a left-arm pacer and gradually worked on his batting to become a useful all-rounder for New Zealand. He made his One-Day international debut at a young age of 20 when New Zealand suffered an injury crisis to its main bowlers in the year 2001. He got his chance in Tests in the same year when he was chosen for a home Test series against Pakistan. Franklin failed to impress with the ball and got a pair with the bat. After a string of ordinary performances, he was dropped from the squad in April, 2002.

This was the period when Franklin realized his potential with the bat and started working on his batting skills in domestic cricket. He made his way back in the team in the tour to England, replacing the injured Shane Bond. He got a game in the third Test at Trent Bridge, and impressed with 6 wickets. In the ODI series that followed, Franklin was awarded the Man of the Match for his match winning 5 for 42 to bowl out England for just 101 runs. The steady growth made him a regular in the New Zealand side, contributing with the ball and the bat. He became one of the only two Kiwi bowlers to take a Test hat trick when he achieved the feat in a match against Bangladesh in 2004. In Australia's tour of New Zealand in March 2005, Franklin got his career best figures of 6 for 119.

He continued to rise in stature, this time with the bat, when he made his maiden Test century of 122 not out against South Africa in Newlands in 2006. However, a knee injury forced him out of the squad in the 2007 season and he was made to undergo a surgery. He fought back hard with impressive shows in domestic and county cricket, where he topped Gloucestershire's one-day run tally with 511 at 73.00, including two centuries, and their Twenty20 list with 470 at 39.16 in the 2009-10 season. Franklin returned to the New Zealand squad and impressed in India, scoring 98 not out and 72 not out to emerge as a strong contender for a World Cup berth. However, he lost his New Zealand contract after an ordinary World Cup.

Franklin got back his contract the following year and was part of the ODI and T20I squad. He also played the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and made some useful contributions coming lower down the order. However, once Brendon McCullum took over the leadership, he decided to breed youngsters and gave people like Corey Anderson and James Neesham a chance. This meant that Franklin is well below the pecking order and chances of a comeback look very thin.

Franklin played three seasons for the Mumbai Indians and scored some useful runs in crunch situations but was always considered as a replacement for Pollard. After the 2013 edition the Mumbai team let him go and he went unsold during the 2014 auctions. Franklin kept playing franchise cricket across the globe thereafter and has featured in the BBL, CPL and the English T20 tournament.

In 2015, Franklin signed for Middlesex as a non-overseas player through his Irish ancestry and it meant that he effectively retired from international cricket. He soon took over as the side's captain, replacing Adam Voges who was attending to national duties. He was at the helm when Middlesex won the County Championship for the first time in 23 years.

Interesting fact: Franklin has an Irish passport, and considered playing in England as a local cricketer after being left out of the New Zealand squad in 2007-08. However, he decided against it and continued for New Zealand.

By Karthik Lakshmanan and CB Staff