Franks steps up to Nottinghamshire assistant role

Paul Franks, the Nottinghamshire allrounder, has been promoted from his role as second-team captain and academy coach to become Peter Moores' first-team assistant.

Franks, 37, whose playing career at Trent Bridge began in 1997, retired from the first-class game as a player in 2015, and went on to take his ECB Level 4 coaching qualification.

He won the Second XI Championship in 2015 before furthering his experience with stints coaching the United Arab Emirates.

"Paul has been taking steps into coaching for a number of years," said Nottinghamshire's director of cricket, Mick Newell. "We've encouraged him in that and now we feel he's ready for this extra responsibility.

"Not only is Paul an impressive young coach, he's also part of the fabric of the club, having achieved so much during his time as a player."

Nottinghamshire will start the 2017 season in division two after a disappointing campaign last summer that led to relegation and brought about the end of Newell's 14-and-a-half year tenure as head coach.

Moores, who joined the club as a batting consultant in the wake of his departure from the England job in May 2015, stepped into the vacancy in September. And now Franks steps into the assistant role vacated by Wayne Noon, the former wicketkeeper who announced last week that he was ending his 23-year association with the club.

"Peter has worked with lots of coaches in both county and international cricket - and he's very been very impressed with what he's seen from Paul," said Newell.

"Having played alongside our senior players, and been hugely involved in the development of the younger generation, he's well placed to get the best out of that group of players."