With Michael Kasprowicz involved with the Australia squad in 2006, Glamorgan turned to James Franklin as the left-arm swing bowler and hard-hitting middle-order batsman became the first New Zealander to represent the Welsh county.
He joined Glamorgan after a highly successful season in domestic cricket in 2005/06, during which he recorded career-best figures of 7/30 against Central Districts as well as a career best 208 against Auckland. But James was also nursing a long-standing back injury and the New Zealand authorities agreed to his sojourn in Wales but only with restrictions on the number of overs he could bowl each day. Consequently, he largely played as a change bowler, but nevertheless, James still claimed 31 first-class wickets in his nine appearance with his best performance coming at The Oval where a series of waspish spells brought the Kiwi the figures of 5/68.
As someone with a reputation as a forcing batsman, James also made some telling contributions with the bat especially in T20 cricket with the standout performance being an 18-ball fifty against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. No Glamorgan batsman has scored a quicker half-century in the short format.
During his playing career, James also played county cricket for Gloucestershire, Essex, Nottinghamshire and Middlesex, besides playing in T20 cricket for a number of franchises including the Mumbai Indians, Barbados Tridents, Adelaide Strikers, Guyana Warriors and Rajesthani Kings. In 2019 James retired from playing and became Head Coach at Durham.
FRANKLIN, James Edward Charles
Born – Wellington, New Zealand 7th November 1980.
Best performances for Glamorgan:
In first-class cricket – 94 v Gloucestershire at Cheltenham College, 2006; 5/68 v Surrey at The Oval, 2006.
In List A cricket – 68* v Durham at Sophia Gardens, 2006; 2/26 v Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, 2006.
In T20 cricket – 69* and 1/23 v Warwickshire at Edgbaston, 2006.
| M | I | NO | RUNS | AV | 100 | 50 | CT | ST | |
| First-class | 9 | 15 | 1 | 346 | 24.71 | – | 2 | 5 | – |
| List A | 10 | 9 | 4 | 209 | 41.80 | – | 1 | 1 | – |
| T20 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 127 | 31.75 | – | 1 | – | – |
| Balls | M | R | W | AV | 5wI | 10wM | |
| First-class | 1510 | 45 | 950 | 31 | 30.64 | 1 | – |
| List A | 372 | 3 | 367 | 9 | 40.77 | – | – |
| T20 | 171 | 1 | 229 | 5 | 45.80 | – | – |