Franklin wants to return as allrounder

James Franklin, the New Zealand fast bowler, has said he hopes to make a comeback to the national team as a "50-50 allrounder" rather than a "bowling-dominant allrounder". Franklin made his first-class comeback last week for Wellington and scored 69 and took 4 for 56 in his team's innings victory over Canterbury.

"I'd like to come back into international cricket as a true allrounder, batting at seven or eight and contributing genuine runs as well as taking wickets," Franklin told the Sunday Star Times. "Things are going well at the moment, it's such a relief to be playing first-class cricket again," he said. "I hadn't played first-class for almost two years because I'd been on a steady diet of ODIs before I injured my knee."

Franklin last played a Test for New Zealand in December 2006 and he hasn't appeared in ODIs since the 2007 World Cup. He underwent surgery for a patella tendon injury in his right knee last November and eased back into competitive cricket by playing Twenty20 and one-day games for Australian Capital Territory and representing New Zealand in the Emerging Players tour of Queensland in October this year.

"At the moment the guys [New Zealand] are doing pretty well and I haven't played international cricket for 18 months, so I have to play well at domestic cricket," Franklin said. "Hopefully the selectors will take note of any good form I might have and you might see a left-arm bowler-batsman back in the team, which would be a good thing."