Date of birth – 14 March 1991 Mansfield, Notts
Nottinghamshire First Class Debut – 27 March 2011 v MCC (Abu Dhabi)
Nottinghamshire’s coaching staff have predicted big things for Jake Ball for a number of seasons, the lively, new ball bowler made his championship debut for Nottinghamshire against Lancashire in April 2014 at Trent Bridge.
Jake first broke into the Nottinghamshire side at the end of the 2009 season, making his debut in a Pro40 clash against Sussex at Hove. He claimed the wicket of Rory Hamilton-Brown during his first match but his chance of shining with the bat came to an abrupt halt as he was dismissed first ball, enabling Dwayne Smith to claim a hat-trick.
Since then, Mansfield-born Jake has become an integral part of Notts Outlaws’ white-ball sides. His best figures came against Somerset in the semi-final of the Outlaws’ victorious Yorkshire Bank 40 campaign, taking 4-25 as the visitors to Trent Bridge were brushed aside for 119.
The 2011 Champion County match against the MCC in Abu Dhabi enabled Jake to make his first class debut and he responded by picking up the wickets of experienced trio, Stephen Moore, Stephen Peters and Dawid Malan.
Nephew of Bruce French, the former Nottinghamshire and England wicket keeper, Jake has continued to develop and earn renown for his ability with the white ball and will be looking to push on further in 2014.