Jake Ball admits 50 over cricket has become a batsman’s game, but he’s enjoying every minute of the challenge ahead of tomorrow’s Royal London One-Day Cup fixture against Yorkshire.

The fast bowler missed out on final selection for England’s second Investec Test against Pakistan at Lord’s, and instead got the opportunity to play for Notts at his home ground, Welbeck, as the Outlaws beat the Derbyshire Falcons by 65 runs.

With tomorrow’s match set to take place at Scarborough, it’s time for some out-ground cricket in someone else’s backyard.

“The game up there that sticks out in my mind is the England Under 19s game (in July 2010) when I managed to get five wickets against Sri Lanka, so I’ve got pretty good memories of Scarborough,” said Ball.

“It’s always a nice atmosphere. I’d say it’s similar to Welbeck where you get a lot of families down.

“All the lads are enjoying playing at these out-grounds where they can get a little bit closer to the action and it’s more personal.

“Everybody did a fantastic job at Welbeck. To get 4,500 people there, to accommodate everybody and for it to run smoothly, it’s a credit to everybody who put the work in.”

The Outlaws piled up a formidable total of 340-7 against Derbyshire which, remarkably, was their third highest of the competition having twice passed 400 in earlier matches.

Ball expects the willow dominated trend to continue, and admits he is relishing the challenge.

“We have to adapt to it,” he said. “Batsmen are always developing their games and bowlers will continue to do the same.

“We are trying to develop new deliveries and new ideas to stop them scoring.

“When a batsman gets in, with the way the regulations are, it’s hard to stop them from scoring. Sometimes if you go at below seven an over you’re having a good day.

“We’re in the entertainment industry, batsmen are going to hit sixes. You have to accept that as a bowling unit, and we’ve still got the skill to take other teams down.”

When it comes to stifling Yorkshire, and in all forthcoming white ball cricket, Ball insists he’ll continue to take the positive option.

“The best way to restrict teams is to get wickets, if you’re constantly taking wickets, the run rate will never go sky high," he said.

“We are always looking for the attacking option, to try and take wickets. If we get a breakthrough, we will go hard for the next five to ten overs and try to get a couple more.

“Yorkshire have got a lot of international experience, they’ve got some power hitters and some blokes who nudge it around and go at a run a ball.

“That’s what we will adapt our game to. We’ll come up with our own individual plans for each batsman, then try and restrict them to as few as possible.”

 

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