KEY POINTS:
James Franklin. Remember him?
Lefthand allrounder, 21 tests, 65 ODIs, a test hat-trick and test century then ... missing for the last 17 months.
The Wellington 27-year-old underwent surgery for a patella tendon injury in his right knee last November and now, after a few false dawns, is hopeful his days of being on the outside looking in are behind him.
Franklin returned this week from three weeks playing one-day and Twenty20 games for Australian Capital Territory as he bids to regain full fitness ahead of the domestic season and - with a deep breath and fingers crossed - perhaps pulling on the black cap again.
He went on the Emerging Players tour to Queensland in July, playing a couple of games. On reflection it might have been a bit early, but he's come through the latest early steps with five and six overs off his full run-up in two games this week, with no repercussions.
Anyone who has been through a layoff of Franklin's scale would empathise with his view of "give me a pulled hamstring any day".
He acknowledged he'd been lucky with injuries, having no worries until passing 26. His left knee needed to be cleaned out after last year's World Cup. That took about eight weeks to come right but was minor compared with his right knee problem.
Franklin had been able to manage it through the previous season but last October "bit the bullet" and went under the knife. He'd been warned it could mean six months off; then again maybe double that.
Still he has been encouraged by the support he's had from NZ Cricket, which put him on its list of 20 contracted players in April, even though his playing kit was gathering dust.
"It's nice they're behind me, but first things first," he said yesterday, eyeing the start of club cricket with Wellington Collegians in a couple of weeks. He'll play the early rounds as a batsman. Running in hard on concrete and astro turf doesn't excite him.
"Then the domestic season starts in mid-November and we'll see what happens. If I'm feeling well with no worries then you never know, but obviously a lot of time has passed since I played for New Zealand."
Franklin admitted he has a target in mind this season, but is loathe to think too far ahead.
"I'll be stoked if I can start the season on time and get through the whole summer. That would be a massive tick in the box for me."
He acknowledged getting back into the national side won't be easy on two counts - how his rehabilitation progresses, and the rivals who have sprung up in his absence.
"The guys who've come in in the past year have done well. It's all competition amongst one another and that can only be a good thing for New Zealand cricket."
