Background
He was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England and educated at the Meden School in Mansfield.
He was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England and educated at the Meden School in Mansfield.
Ball is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium pace. Ball made his debut for Nottinghamshire in a List A match in the 2009 Pro40 against Sussex in what was his only appearance that season. He was notably West Indian Dwayne Smith's hat-trick wicket in this match.
He next appeared for Nottinghamshire in the 2010 season in the 2010 Clydesdale Bank 40 against Leicestershire, again his only appearance in that season. He bowled five wicketless overs in the Marylebone Cricket Club's first-innings, while in Nottinghamshire's first-innings he was dismissed for 4 by Hamid Hassan. In the Marylebone Cricket Club's second-innings, he ended with figures of 3/72 from 16 overs.
He ended Nottinghamshire's second-innings unbeaten on zero, with Nottinghamshire losing the match by 174 runs. Though this was his only first-class appearance that season, he did make five further List A appearances for the county. To date, he has taken a total of 6 wickets in these matches, which have come at an average of 42.33, with best figures of 3/32, while with the bat he has scored 41 runs in five innings at a batting average of 20.50, with a high score of 19 not out.
He also made a single Twenty20 appearance against Lancashire in the Friends Provident t20 at Old Trafford. Ball made his debut for England Under-19s in July 2010, playing two Youth Test matches against Sri Lanka Under-19s at the County Ground, Northampton and North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough. It was during this series that he made his only Youth One Day International appearance at Fenner's, Cambridge and his only Youth Twenty20 International appearance at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street.
