James Franklin worried by pain in left knee

New Zealand allrounder James Franklin is worried that his injury-hit career could be in trouble once again after he experienced pain in his left knee during a tour game against Pakistan last week.

"It's come like a bolt out of the blue, so naturally I'm pretty nervous because my knees have never been the greatest," Franklin told the Dominion Post. "The last thing I want to do is spend a long time out of the game again, especially as I'm really enjoying my cricket at the moment. I've been happy with my form over the last little while so I don't need a potential setback like this."

Franklin had patella-tendon surgery on his right knee in November 2007, followed by nine months of rehabilitation. This time, he may have injured the patella tendon in his left knee and ultrasound tests confirmed inflammation in the tendon. Franklin was prescribed a series of blood injections into the tendon to help speed up his recovery. In the past he has been through the same routine for his right knee, but the injections were administered too late to prevent surgery in that case.

New Zealand are still recovering from the loss of allrounder Jacob Oram, whose retirement from Tests was forced by injuries. After two years on the sidelines, Franklin made a comeback to the New Zealand Test side in the home series against West Indies late last year. He tried to re-establish himself as an allrounder and scored a fifty against India in Napier.

"I haven't given up hope. I might even try and have a bat in the next day or so and if that goes well I might be able to squeeze a game in for Wellington, possibly just as a batsman, and then go from there," Franklin said.