Franks awarded benefit year

Paul Franks, the Nottinghamshire allrounder, has been awarded a benefit for 2007.

Franks is just 27, but he has dismissed the notion that this may be the end of his career. "I genuinely feel that my best years are ahead of me," he said. "I don't see this as the end at all and I hope to be playing for Notts for a long time yet."

The chairman of Nottinghamshire's cricket committee, Stuart Foster said: "I can't think of a more deserving beneficiary than a local lad like Paul. He carried the bowling attack on his own back for much of the late 90s and to come back from the serious knee injury he suffered in 2001 deserves great credit and speaks volumes for his courage and commitment."

Franks is in his 11th year at Trent Bridge after making his debut as a 17-year-old and has since taken more than 350 wickets and scored more than 4,000 runs in first-class cricket. He made his one-day for England against the West Indies at Trent Bridge in 2000, the same year he was named as Young Cricketer of the Year by the Cricket Writers' Club.