Injury struck at exactly the wrong time for Paul Franks. An intelligent, thoughtful fast-medium bowler who could make serious contributions with the bat, he had gained international recognition with an appearance for England in a one-day international against the West Indies on his home ground, Trent Bridge. That was in 2000, the year he was elected Young Cricketer of the Year by the Cricket Writers' Club. However he missed much of the 2001 season with a knee injury and did not re-appear until midway through the 2002 season by which time he had fallen a long way down the pecking order, and a poor 2003 season further hampered his chances of a recall.

He had been a star of the England U-19 side and was vice-captain of the team that won the U-19 World Cup in South Africa in 1998. The following winter he was called up as a replacement for the England A team in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and was selected in his own right for the following winter's A tour to Bangladesh and New Zealand. Having previously attended the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai under the guidance of Dennis Lillee, he was in the provisional squad to attend the 2002-03 ECB National Academy in Australia but did not make the final cut. Franks was then hit by a number of injuries but began to reinvent himself as an occasional opening batsman to try and solve Nottinghamshire's opening problems. In a strong squad he remained a more than handy cricketer.
Cricinfo staff