With England’s cricketers in Sri Lanka and Australia & South Africa contesting an ODI series, the cricketing world’s focus is purely on the ICC Cricket World Cup.

As well as the tournament being a chance for Nottinghamshire’s international cricketers to shine, it offers huge exposure to associate nations like the UAE, who drafted in Paul Franks as a specialist bowling coach to help give them the best possible chance of impressing on a huge world stage.

“It was a fantastic opportunity for me to broaden my coaching experience,” said Franks on his return from Abu Dhabi.

“It was a chance to work with different players in different envronments, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

“I was nervous initially, I try to carry a strong front but going into an environment where you don’t know anyone is daunting. 

“I was familiar with the high performance manager but that was it. You have to build strong relationships quickly, get to know people quickly and work to build up trust. 

“We did that, and thankfully we thoroughly enjoyed it and worked with talented people, both players and coaches.”

The UAE’s training camp will culminate with matches against Afghanistan and New Zealand A, and Franks has looked to bring his experience of big match situations to his bowlers and ensure that they deal with the pressures of international cricket the right way.

“They’re an energetic bunch, at times they would let their emptions overwhelm some clear thinking, and I wanted to take the experience I had gained from being around finals and big championship matches and help them,” he said.

“I used it to explain to them what they can expect and help them to clarify their plans and help them prepare for what is an exciting time for UAE cricket. 

“They’ll be playing in big games on some excellent pitches and they’ll be under pressure. They need to know what that pressure will look and feel like, and how to respond to it.

“They now have the plans, and the ability to think clearly, to perform at that level.” 

The UAE’s training camp had a decidedly Nottinghamshire flavour throughout, as Franks was joined by club captain Chris Read, brought in as a specialist to work with the UAE’s wicket keepers.

“Chris worked with both keepers, two naturally talented players from what I saw,” said Franks.

“Chris’ main priority was just to polish any rough edges. He has had fantastic experience and has arguably been in the top echelon of world wicket keeping for the past 15 years.

“You cant underestimate that and if you spoke to the two guys, they’ve never had attention like they had from Chris. He was able to do that and spend hours with them, how we see the likes of Bruce French and other wicket keeping coaches, working with them intensively.

“I can see a real niche moving forward for him there if that’s what he chooses to do when he hangs up his boots.”