Benjamin John France (born 14 May 1982) is a former professional cricketer who has played first-class and List A cricket for Derbyshire County Cricket Club.[1]

Ben France
Personal information
Full name
Benjamin John France
Born (1982-05-14) 14 May 1982 (age 41)
Brunei
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium-fast
RoleBatsman
Websitewww.benfrancecricket.co.uk
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2000Oxfordshire
2003–2012Suffolk
2004–2005Derbyshire
2013–2018Norfolk
FC debut19 August 2004 Derbyshire v Notts
Last FC16 September 2005 Derbyshire v Yorkshire
LA debut28 August 2003 Suffolk v Devon
Last LA25 September 2005 Derbyshire v Somerset
Career statistics
Competition First-class List A
Matches 11 3
Runs scored 315 52
Batting average 15.75 17.33
100s/50s 0/2 0/0
Top score 56 31
Balls bowled 120 0
Wickets 1
Bowling average 90.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/37
Catches/stumpings 5/– 0/–
Source: CricInfo, 24 June 2019

Born in Brunei, France was educated at Bromsgrove School in Worcestershire.[2] He played both cricket and rugby union at school and represented the England under-18 rugby side at fly-half.[3] He played one Minor Counties Trophy match for Oxfordshire in 2000 and two for Worcestershire Cricket Board in 2001 before playing Second XI matches for Middlesex, Kent, and Essex.[1][3]

After moving to the county, France played for Suffolk from 2003 and was the second highest run scorer in the Minor Counties Championship in 2004.[4] He made his debut for Derbyshire in 2004 and was voted 2nd XI player of the year during the season, but was released in 2006 after making 14 senior appearances for the county.[2] He continued to play for Suffolk and worked as a cricket and rugby coach at Ipswich School and was the cricket professional at Framlingham College.[4] He went on to play for Norfolk, working as a cricket coach and teacher in the county.

References edit

  1. ^ a b Ben France, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  2. ^ a b Ben France, CricInfo. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  3. ^ a b Ben France, Copdock and Old Ipswichian Cricket Club. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  4. ^ a b Garnham N (2012) Ben France regrets turning down rugby contract Archived 24 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine, East Anglian Daily Times, 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2019-06-24.

External links edit