Malcolm Francke

Who is Malcolm Francke?

Fredrick Malcolm Francke is a former Australian first class cricketer who played for Queensland.

Francke was a leg spinner and played for Ceylon in 1957/58, prior to migrating to Australia. He represented Queensland from 1971/72 to 1985/86, making his debut against a touring World XI side. Francke dismissed Clive Lloyd twice and also took the wickets of captain Rohan Kanhai and Sunil Gavaskar. 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. He appeared to have played his last game in 1980 but made a return 6 years later to play in the 1985/86 Sheffield Shield season.

In 1975 he was part of a rebel tour of South Africa, playing for the Brian Close led DH Robins XI.

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.