Jake Ball

Hailing from a French family near Mansfield, Jacob Timothy Ball has a rich history in cricketing circles. Nephew of the former England and Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper Bruce French, Ball is a gangly seam bowler and a decent bat. Known for his six-hitting ability, Jake Ball commenced his cricket journey at Welbeck Colliery ground. Recognized and rewarded at the U-19 level, he went on to make his first-class debut for Nottinghamshire in March 2011.

With a bit of experience under his belt, Ball impressed one and all in the domestic circuit in the following year. A season which he would remark as the stepping stone to his career. Although his success revolved mostly around white ball cricket, Ball did enough to claim Nottinghamshire's young player of the year award in 2012, which paved way for an extension of the contract.

Just when things prospered at a brisk pace, Ball succumbed to a foot injury in 2014 which kept him cricket-isolated for nearly 10 months. Post his comeback, he feathered rustiness, working closely with his coaches in Nottinghamshire, to seal a slot for the England Lions squad in 2015. More often, he led the Lions bowling attack during the 2015-16 season which stood as a testimony to all the years of grit.

Many expected Ball to sparkle in colored cricket, but as luck would have it, he earned his maiden call-up for Test match cricket, against Sri Lanka in May 2016. Destiny, however, seemed to have different plans as he ended up doing the waterboy duties throughout the series, and little did he knew of what was to come a couple of months later.

In front of a capacity crowd at Lord's, against a country - Pakistan - that was touring for the first time in 6 years, Jake Ball became the 671st Test cricketer to represent England. Thanks to injuries to Anderson and Stokes. His debut game, howbeit, was overshadowed by the spin of Yasir Shah and Pakistan's emotional win. Nerves got better of him as he went wicket-less for 29 overs after nipping out Azhar Ali in his 7th over. To his delight, England selectors showed faith in his abilities and picked him for the tours of Bangladesh and India during winter 2016-17.

Ball soon erased his bleak memories, by plugging off a match-winning performance in his debut game in limited overs format. In October 2016. His consistent, natural extra bounce troubled Bangladesh which helped him bag a fifer and the Man of the Match award.

Ball's Test return came at the cost of an injury to his Nottinghamshire team-mate, Stuart Broad. Ball went onto play the final 2 Tests on India tour, but couldn't create any telling impact. He did assert his place in the limited-overs side with all the necessary variations that modern day cricket demands, but one would say he is far from spearheading the English attack in Test cricket.

Ball was a surprise pick for England's Ashes tour of Australia in 2017-18. Considering his moderate speeds and conventional nature of being a swing bowler, the inclusion did raise eye brows. His struggles in the longer format continued in the opening Test as well, at the Gabba was dropped after that game. While Ball can be a handful at home or in conditions that aides movement, he has proven to be inefficient on placid surfaces or pitches that have negligible amount of lateral movement. Like a majority of England players these days, Ball's skill set suits the limited-overs formats more than red-ball cricket.

Cricbuzz Staff