Jake Ball feels the prize of Finals Day qualification would feel all the sweeter after a 2020 season that almost never was, if Notts Outlaws can get over the line against Leicestershire Foxes on Thursday. 

The seamer is part of a 14-man party for the Outlaws’ tenth quarter-final in eleven years, with the Foxes providing the opposition from 6pm on Thursday 1 October.

Ball has been a key component of a successful T20 decade for the Green and Golds, but - after an injury-ravaged 2018, heartbreaking 2019 and pandemic-disrupted 2020 - admits a positive end to this season would carry extra weight.

“After such a strange year, it would definitely mean more to get back to Finals Day,” he said.

“There have been a lot of positives this season – even though we didn’t get a win in four-day cricket, I think we took a lot from our performances. And then we’ve gone on to play a lot of great cricket in the Blast.

“To finish this season with Finals Day – and hopefully a trophy – would be a great conclusion, and would help propel us through the winter to push on in all forms of the game next year.”

Ball was part of victorious Outlaws sides in the 2016 and 2017 quarter-finals, having tasted the heartache of knockout-stage defeat in the 2012 and 2013 campaigns.

Those experiences have made the Mansfield-born right-armer a savvier player – and Ball feels the rest of the Notts squad enjoy similar street-smarts.

“We've got a lot of players with experience from global T20 tournaments and international cricket, who have all played in big games and know how to manage the situation,” he said.

“I think that will certainly help to take the pressure off at key times.”

After a bumper-to-bumper domestic season, tomorrow’s last-eight tie comes eleven days after the Outlaws ended their group stage campaign with a win over Durham.

Inter-squad games and training sessions under the Trent Bridge lights have been a feature of the past week, as the Green and Golds look to retain their sharpness.

“With such a big gap between games, there’s a danger you can lose your match intensity, so that inter-squad game was really helpful,” said Ball.

“To have umpires there keeping on top of your no-balls, to be able to see where the balls are travelling to in a way you can’t when you’re in the nets… those sorts of things are really beneficial.

“And having bowled first so often, we haven’t done much bowling under lights. It was useful to take a few catches under the lights as well – and in the cold they’ll hit your hands a bit harder than you might expect!

“It should all stand us in good stead for this week.”