Jake Ball, having recently added MCC honours to his winter with the England Lions, believes now is the time to push for full international honours – and his Director of Cricket agrees.
The 25-year-old paceman made his debut for the home of cricket in Abu Dhabi earlier today, recording figures of 0-34 from four overs in the Emirates Airline Twenty20 Trophy.
The serious business of the trip, however, lies ahead in the champion county fixture against the same opposition starting on Sunday.
Ball is hoping to use the trip, not only to score psychological points over the reigning champions, but also to prepare for a pivotal season in his career back home.
“It’s obviously a great opportunity to be involved in the MCC and it will be an honour to play in the game.
“It’s also about using it as my pre-season and being ready for the first game with Notts.
“It’s not about setting targets, but I have a rough idea of where I want to be by the end of the season to say I’ve been successful.
“But I won’t base everything on those numbers. I take each game and each challenge as it comes, then see where I am at the end of the year.”
Ball took 67 wickets across the three competitions in 2015, earning a place with the England Lions for a pair of white ball away series against Pakistan. Produce another campaign like that and greater international honours could be on the way.
“This is a massive period coming up,” he said. “Starting the season well would be a great building block to push for higher honours during the season.
“If I do start really well, who knows, there’s a great chance and a real opportunity.”
Nottinghamshire’s Director of Cricket, Mick Newell, who is also an England Selector, agrees that the time is now for Ball to earn a future on the world stage.
“Jake has certainly pushed himself a lot further forward,” said Newell.
“He’s now a name that will come up in discussions when you talk about a larger group of potential England players.
“He’s had a good Lions tour on the back of a good county season and he can’t do much more than that.
“A lot of it will depend on injuries to others, on rest and rotation and how he starts the season.
“But if he’s going to play for England, he absolutely should be pushing forward in the next 18 months to make that happen.”
The 2015 season saw dramatic last-gasp four day victories, thrilling limited-overs contests and an historic Investec Ashes Test, all in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge.
Next season, we’d wager, will be no less enthralling and frankly we’d hate for you to miss out.