England call-up for cricketer Rob Franks, who had leg amputated to escape life of constant pain

Rob Franks had his left leg removed last year after enduring seven years of agony caused by a tumour in his knee, nerve damage and a broken bone.

Rob, former head coach at Ellingham Cricket Club in the New Forest, has seen his life transformed since the operation.

Less than a month after having the privately-funded surgery he was scaling a climbing wall at the naval museum in Portsmouth. Seven weeks later the 40-year-old former chef was back playing cricket.

In the past few months he has also completed a wingwalk and appeared as an extra in the TV medical drama Casualty.

Now Rob is preparing to return to England Disability Cricket, the side he used to captain.

Speaking about his latest achievement he said: “I received a letter telling me I’ve been selected to play for England again.

“I was a little bit taken aback so I had to call the bloke, just to make sure it was meant to have been sent to me and not to someone else.”

Rob, who lives in Poole, will be part of the England squad when it takes on Wales at Lord’s Cricket Ground on March 3.

The married father-of-two was injured playing cricket in 2011 and was found to have an aggressive tumour in his left knee. After two operations Rob was left with nerve damage, which meant he needed crutches and a wheelchair to get around.

In 2014 he joined a cricket club for people with disabilities but suffered a broken leg.

Surgeons managed to repair the break but Rob was left in constant agony until his amputation at the Spire Hospital in Southampton last year. He last played for England Disability Cricket in 2017, about a year before the operation.

Rob is a coach at Parley Cricket Club, which despite being based at Ferndown plays in the Hampshire League.