Jake Ball’s rise from the playing fields of Warsop to England’s Ashes squad has been a remarkable, but not straightforward one. A combination of hard work and some sterling performances have elevated him to the top of his profession and, here, Steven Dale charts five key moments in the Welbeck Wizard of Oz's Ashes selection.

1) From Welbeck to Notts

A flight to Australia to potentially play in the most-watched series with the fiercest cricketing rivalry on the planet is a far cry from Ball’s early days.

After initially inheriting his family’s love for cricket - his uncle, Bruce French, is himself a former Nottinghamshire and England wicketkeeper - Ball make a name for himself at Welbeck Colliery Cricket Club (now Welbeck CC) almost instantly.

It was there that he was spotted. Darren Bicknell, the club's professional-cum-coach at the time, recommended him to the coaches at Trent Bridge after a number of impressive performances.

He then continued his progress under the tutelage of Andy Pick before Ball eventually made his Nottinghamshire debut in 2011, a pre-season fixture against the MCC in Abu Dhabi.

2) Domestic debut – Sussex v Nottinghamshire Pro 40

For most cricketers, making your list-A debut is a memorable occasion. In Ball’s case, it was partially for the wrong reasons with bat in hand.

He was the hat-trick wicket for West Indian Dwayne Smith on a night when his side went down to a 152-run defeat at Hove.

Nevertheless, the future England international did bowl six overs in the game, achieving figures of 1-33. He took his wicket early on, dismissing opener Rory Hamilton-Brown, just one short of his half century.

The Mansfield-born seamer would later run out Indian overseas spinner Puyish Chawla for a duck.

It turned out to be Ball’s last appearance for the Club until the following season, where he featured once against Leicestershire in the same competition. Four years later, though, his career truly got underway…

3) Making his first class mark

Having previously been forced to settle for fleeting appearances here and there, the summer of 2015 would turn out to be a career-defining season in the life of Jake Ball.

A man who began the year as a squad player at Trent Bridge soon began to take the County Championship by storm. 39 batsmen had fallen to the seam bowler by the end of the season, with his efforts recognised by the ECB, who called him up for his first Lions squad.

International recognition would continue to come his way the following season.

4) 2016 – Test debut

Ball began the 2016 season in much the same fashion that he ended the previous campaign - in excellent form.

He would take 49 County Championship Division One wickets in 11 games, which, in the end, was too much for the selectors to ignore.

Despite being unused in England’s series against Sri Lanka, he was given the nod to represent his country two months later against Pakistan at Lord's, a game that his side would lose lose by 75-runs.

The moment every new England bowler always remembers came when he trapped Azhar Ali lbw for seven to claim his first Test wicket.

5) 2016-17 – Cementing his international credentials

Following his debut against Pakistan, Ball was included in the squad for England’s winter tours to Bangladesh and India.

During the spell in Bangladesh, Ball made history by becoming the first Englishman to take a five-wicket haul on ODI debut.His figures of 5-51 were crucial in helping his side win by 21-runs in Dhaka.

He later appeared in the final two Test matches in India, a series that saw the hosts wrap up a 4-0 series victory on spin-friendly wickets.

In 2017, a knee injury meant Ball missed the Royal London One-Day Cup final at Lord's and also the start of the summer Test series against South Africa.

However, he came back strongly as part of the Notts Outlaws' NatWest T20 Blast-winning team and was subsequently named in the Ashes squad for the 2017-18 series at the end of Setpember.

Ball will now be hoping to impress the selectors enough in the tour's warm-up games - which start this weekend with a fixture against Western Australia -  to get the nod for the start of the Ashes on 23 November in Brisbane.

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