Jacob Timothy “Jake” Ball, an English cricketer, was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England on March 14, 1991.
The medium pace bowler, who is right-handed, comes from a French family. He is the nephew of French Bruce, the retired England and Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper.
Background
Ball made his Under 19 England debut against Sri Lanka in two Youth Tests in England in July 2010. During the Pro40 tournament in 2009, he made his List A debut for Nottinghamshire.
In 2011, against Marylebone Cricket Club in Abu Dhabi, he made his first-class debut for Nottinghamshire. In that match, he took three wickets. That season, he only played one T20 match for Nottinghamshire, against Lancashire. In 2012, his results for Nottinghamshire won him the distinction of being named the club’s young player of the year.
Debut
He was called up to play for England for the first time against Sri Lanka. In that order, he did not make the starting XI. At Lord’s, he made his debut against Pakistan. He took one wicket in the first innings and went wicketless in the second. In that match, Pakistan defeated England by 75 runs.
In the first ODI of the tour, he made his ODI debut for England against Bangladesh in Dhaka. He bowled well and was given a fifer. He finished the match with a 5/51 record.
Rise to Glory
His outstanding limited-overs performances secured him a spot in the Test series against India. He was named to the squad for the fourth test, where he took one wicket in England’s only innings, which they lost by an innings and 36 runs. He went wicketless in the final test, and England lost by an innings and 75 runs, losing the series 4-0.
In three ODI matches against India, he took five wickets.
Low Points
He was in and out of the squad due to his inability to do well in Tests. In tests, he scored an average of 114.3. Due to his high economy pace, he was also unable to find a place in the T20 squad. In an ODI against the West Indies in Southampton, he gave up 94 runs in 10 overs, the third-highest total by an England bowler.
Club Career
He is a member of the Nottinghamshire County Cricket team and played for the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2016.
Records
He is the first England bowler to take five wickets in an ODI. From his ten overs, he had a strike rate of 5/51. For this spell, he was called Man of the Match.