Paul Franks will be part of the coaching setup for the Nottingham-based men’s team in The Hundred.
The Notts Assistant Head Coach will work under Stephen Fleming and alongside Derbyshire’s Mal Loye when the new 100-ball tournament gets underway next summer.
“It’s a fresh and exciting tournament featuring the best players in the world, so it’s absolutely something to get excited about,” said Franks.
“The tactical side of things while all teams are trying to steal a march in a new format is certainly something that appeals to me as a coach, and in Stephen we have one of the best tacticians in the game.
“It will be strange stepping away from Notts for five weeks in the middle of the season, but with that comes an opportunity for another coach to step in and develop in that environment.
“There are moving parts heading into next season for everyone to get used to, but they bring opportunities for English players and coaches to develop and learn, which is important for all of us.”
Fleming, a three-time winner of the Indian Premier League with Chennai Super Kings, says he’ll be relying heavily on the knowledge of his assistant coaches for insight into the English game.
“Having local coaches and tapping into knowledge from across three counties is a massive part of our preparation,” he said.
“Success in these tournaments is about putting a team together and then it’s man-management of players to make sure everyone pulls together.
“That’s something the coaches will be a big part of, so it’s great news to have Paul and Mal on board.
“We’ve got to be right on our game from the first pick in the draft, making sure we get players that represent what we stand for and the way we want to play.
“There’s a real art to it and it’s got more complex. There are more opinions and more opportunities to get information on players, so we’ve really got to be smart about it.”
Loye, a pioneer during the early years of T20 cricket, says being involved in a new tournament takes him back to 2003, when short-form cricket was in its infancy.
“When the T20 first started, batsmen and bowlers were all experimenting with what they could do differently to adapt to the format and be the best at playing it,” he said.
“The skills and tactics have continued to evolve ever since, but the buzz around it was at its height during the early days when the format was new.
“The 100-ball game will drive similar innovation and intrigue, and that’s exciting. I’m looking forward to being involved as a coach.”
The Hundred is a new 100-ball format that is set to launch next summer with the men’s and women’s competitions to run concurrently over a five-week period.
The competition is set to attract some of the world’s best players and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports and the BBC.
It will feature eight city-based clubs, located in Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff and Southampton, and with two in London (at Lord’s and the Oval).
The men’s player draft is set to become the first major draft to be held in this country. It will be shown live on Sunday 20 October by Sky Sports, with extensive coverage across the BBC.
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