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, yet the lively, new ball bowler is still awaiting his county championship debut.
2013, therefore, will be highly significant in the career of the former England Under-19 international.
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 featured regularly in white ball cricket for the county, picking up best bowling figures of 3-32 against Leicestershire Foxes in a CB40 match at Trent Bridge in 2010.
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 continued his development last season and featured in the televised Friends Life t20 quarter final defeat to Hampshire Royals.