Malcolm Francke
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| Full name | Fredrick Malcolm Francke | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 March 1939 Mount Lavinia, Colombo, Ceylon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Legbreak googly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 3 February 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fredrick Malcolm Francke (born 21 March 1939) is a former Australian first-class cricketer who played for Queensland.
Leading Australian spinner Ashley Mallett considered Francke to be the best legspinner in Australia during his time and was disappointed Francke never played Test cricket.
A leg spinner, Francke played for Ceylon in 1957/58, and worked and played cricket in England for several years prior to migrating to Australia. He reports having had offers to play first-class county cricket in England but chose not to because it would have been a full-time commitment requiring him to suspend his career as an accountant.
Francke represented Queensland from 1971/72 to 1985/86, making his debut against a touring World XI side. He went on to take a total of 167 career first class wickets for Queensland with an innings best of 6 for 62 against South Australia in 1974.