Franks testimonial match at Farnsfield
by Paul Barker / Alan Rowley, 15th June 2007

The serene settings of Station Lane, Farnsfield which is arguably the best batting track in the East Midlands, will be the venue for a 20/20 match between a very strong Nottinghamshire side and the local Bassetlaw League side on Sunday 24^th June. The match will be part of the Paul Franks testimonial season and the proceeds will be shared between this and Cancer Research funds.

Paul has been at Nottinghamshire for eleven years now and must rank as one of the unluckiest players in the history of the game. He made rapid strides after making his debut as a seventeen year old and was on the verge of the England team when afflicted by a serious knee injury.

This halted his progress badly as he had made his one day international debut against the West Indies at Trent Bridge in 2000 and in that same year had won the award of Young Cricketer of the Year which was voted for by the Cricket Writers Club.

Surprisingly now, Paul (pictured right) appears to be enjoying better fitness than he has done for many years and has had a very good season with Nottinghamshire so far. He is an extremely likable young man who having been brought up in Farnsfield has never forgotten his roots.

He told an Umpires meeting this Winter that he is Farnsfield through and through. He has in the past finished matches at far away places like Bournemouth on Friday and then travelled all the way up to Farnsfield and turned out for his club on Saturday.

When asked why, Paul’s reply was that he owed Farnsfield everything. Without their encouragement as a young player he would never have achieved what he has done, and he will always continue to help them whenever he can.

It is typical of the guy that he is bringing a terrific team with him to Farnsfield for a match that will begin at 3.00 p.m. The team will be selected from Stephen Fleming, Chris Read, Graeme Swan, David Hussey, Charlie Shreck, Bilal Shafayat, Mark Ealham, Jason Gallian, Andrew J. Harris, Darren Bicknell, Will Jefferson, Robert Ferley and Paul Franks of course.

The whole fun day will start at 1.30 p.m. with the Farnsfield youngsters having the chance of a coaching and photographic session with their favourite players and in addition to this there will be an Auction, a raffle and the Bar will remain open all day. Live music will be on offer in the evening and a thoroughly good day will be on the menu for everyone. The Farnsfield club would like to take this opportunity to invite everyone to what should be a terrific day out.

Get a grip on Testicular Cancer

Franks told 'the follow on': "As part of my benefit year at Notts I am working in conjunction with Cancer Reserch as my chosen charity. The aim is to raise awareness of Cancer and, in this particular instance, Testicular Cancer in men.

As it is 20/20 time I am launching a new Royal Blue Octopus Bat Grip the same colour as the Testicular Cancer awareness project. The idea behind this is to get as many people using this grip as possible and raise the level of awareness of Cancer in men. I'm sure you will agree this is a worthy cause and one that is crucial in the search for cures in the future."

The grips are £2 each, or if your particular club is interested in bulk buying then they are working on three for a fiver. All money raised from this will go directly to charity. If you are interested you can contact Paul's benefit e-mail address which is franksie3279@hotmail.com.