A CRICKETER who asked for his leg to be amputated after living in agony for years is back in the England team.

Rob Franks, from Poole, had his left leg amputated last year, after enduring seven years of pain caused by a tumour in his knee, nerve damage and a broken bone.

Since the operation Rob, who is a coach at Parley Cricket Club, says life has taken a huge turn for the better.

Within three weeks after the privately-funded operation, which his friends helped become a reality after donating £19,000 towards its costs, Rob was scaling a climbing wall at the naval museum in Portsmouth.

Seven weeks later the 40-year-old, who by that point had been fitted with a prosthetic, was back playing cricket, the game he loves.

He's also completed a wingwalk and, after registering with an acting agency for people with disabilities, appeared as an extra in the hit television show Casualty.

On his latest achievement, Rob told the Daily Echo: "About two weeks ago I got a letter through the post telling me I've been selected to play for England again.

"I was a little bit taken aback, so I had to call the bloke, just to make sure it was meant to have been sent to me and not to someone else.

"To be honest, I've not really played a lot this winter – I've played just two games indoors."

He'll be part of the England disability squad taking on Wales at Lords on March 3.

The married father-of-two was injured playing cricket in 2011 and afterwards doctors discovered an aggressive tumour in his left knee.

He had an operation, but a routine check-up two years later showed the growth had returned – this time it was bigger than ever.

So Rob was forced to undergo a second operation. But this procedure caused nerve damage, leaving him requiring crutches and a wheelchair to get around.

Then in 2014 he joined a cricket club for people with disabilities but suffered a broken leg in just his second game for the side.

While surgeons managed to repair the break, Rob was left in constant agony up until his amputation last year.

He last played for the England disability side in 2017, about a year before his amputation.