11 Interesting Facts about Kiwi All-rounder James Franklin

11 Interesting Facts about Kiwi All-rounder James Franklin: Tall, handsome and starry-eyed James Franklin is the popular New Zealand all-rounder who excelled in almost all formats of the game for more than the last one decade since his debut in 2001. James Franklin has an astonishing talent and cricket skills making him one of the most complete all-rounders of New Zealand in recent times.

In fact, it won’t be wrong to say that after Daniel Vettori, James Franklin has been the most prolific all-rounder for his side. He played 31 Tests and chipped in 82 Test wickets as well apart from scoring 808 runs with 1 ton and 2 fifties. He also played 110 ODIs and scored 1270 runs with 4 half centuries and 81 ODI wickets to his credit. The charismatic cricketer turns 35 today and here are the top 11 interesting facts about him.

1.Nickname

James Franklin is affectionately called “Franco” or “Jimmy” by his team mates and fans indicating the all-rounder’s huge popularity in the world of cricket. Interestingly, his full name is little big – “James Edward Charles Franklin”.

2.Awful Test Debut

James Franklin made an awful test debut in 2001 against Pakistan. He was dismissed on Zero in both the first and second innings respectively. He picked up just 2 wickets in the entire match.

3.ODI Debut

James Franklin’s ODI debut was also a disappointing one as New Zealand conceded 70-run defeat to Zimbabwe. But his individual performance was satisfactory as he chipped in 2 wickets in 5-over spell and also effected 1 run-out while remaining unbeaten on 25*.

4.Hat-trick in Test Cricket (2004)

James Franklin entered record book when he claimed hat-trick against Bangladesh in 2004. He is only the 2^nd Kiwi bowler to ever take a hat-trick in Test cricket after Peter Petherick.

5.First-Class Statistics

James Franklin has always been the most prolific cricketer in First-class cricket. He scored more than 8843 runs with 21 tons and 39 fifties in 181 First-class matches at an average of 36. He also has 456 first-class wickets to his credit with 14 five-wicket hauls.

6.Awards and Honors

James has received a total of 5 Man of the match awards (MoMs) in his 14-year long international cricket career for New Zealand.

7.Four fours in 4 balls (IPL 2011)

While playing for Mumbai Indians (MI) in an IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) he played a match winning knock of 45* off 23 balls including 4 boundaries in 5 balls when the team needed 21 off the final over.

8.Cricket World Cup Debut (2007)

James Franklin is the only bowler to have dismissed a batsman on his very first legitimate delivery in the world cup. He achieved this feat against England in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

9.James Franklin for England

When James Franklin was not picked in New Zealand squad of 2007-08, he almost decided to play for England. But eventually he changed his mind and kept playing for New Zealand.

10.Untimely Retirement (2015)

After remaining out of New Zealand squad for more than 2 years due to injury and other reasons, James Franklin announced his joining of Middlesex on a two-year contract for county cricket across all formats. This means the 34-year-old would no longer be playing international matches for New Zealand.

11.Major Teams

New Zealand, Wellington, Mumbai Indians and Middlesex.