James Franklin’s current form a good sign for New Zealand Cricket
James Franklin is one player who can be labeled as an experienced campaigner on the New Zealand side. He has delivered some notable performances for New Zealand during his cricketing career but it is a career replete with injuries.
For a person, who made his debut back in 2001 it is surprising to see why he has not been able to play so many Test and One Day matches for his side. But this highlights another fact of New Zealand cricket, that many of their players have been tormented by
injuries in their careers, and this fact has certainly shortened their careers. This factor is common among New Zealand players, as many of their notable performers have been the victims of injuries. Shane Bond and Jacob Oram are the best examples of this,
as both these players had injuries issues when they were at their best. But James Franklin in his short One Day and Test career has proved this from time to time that he has the ability to play a good all-round role for his side. Though he cannot be considered
as a opening batsman in the New Zealand side, he has all the attributes to be a good lower order batsman for New Zealand. His innings of 98*, against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in the One Day series proves his hard hitting ability and also adds diversity to the New Zealand line-up.
Though he has not managed to play many matches for his side, his career is not over my any means. He is a good fast medium bowler, and has the ability to swing the ball early on. He is the sort of player who is valuable in the One Day format, and in Test Cricket
he can also add depth to the New Zealand lineup. In the past, he opened the bowling for New Zealand and has been effective for them a number of times.
His recent performance against India has been a classy one, and when he was included for the last three One Dayers he performed exceptionally well in the third and 4th One Dayer. Though his bowling was not that effective
in the series, this time his talents with the bat were prominent features. In the 3rd and 4th one day, he batted exceptionally well and scored two brilliant fifties. His ability to swing the ball has been an effective one for him, and
he has managed 80 wickets from 26 Test matches. The hallmark of his fifties was the fact that he played with a lot of maturity and did not play an irrational shot. He was solid in his approach and waited for the lose deliveries to score runs off. New Zealand
are already without Tuffey and the need of an experienced bowler is quite an important one for them. With the presence of Franklin in the side, they would at least be confident that they have a bowler who has played in 77 One day matches. Franklin is the one
of the most senior bowlers in the New Zealand line-up and he is a good support for the other bowlers.
In the 3rd one day against India, he did not bowl well in his spell and went for a lot of runs. But he was the main contributor for them in the batting department when he made 72*. It was again a steady innings from
the left-hander and he struck 5 boundaries and one six in it. Again a lot of maturity was shown by James Franklin, which shows he has grown as a player and is willing to play the role of a senior in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 line-up. The fourth One Day was again dominated
by Franklin, when he played another solid innings for his side. This time he made a brilliant 98*, and the feature of his innings was the fact that he again crafted the Kiwi innings in the depth over’s. He played with a lot of sense and scored runs whenever
he got the opportunity. Again he was sensible enough to not go after every ball and waited for the right time to pounce. He struck lovely drives on the off side and did not allow the batsmen to dictate terms to him. In the last over, he scored 22 runs off
the bowling of Nehra and struck 2 boundaries and 2 sixes in it. James Franklin can play a good role for the kiwis in the upcoming series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. And the way he batted in the last two ODI’s against India, one feels he should be given a chance in the
Test format as well.
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