Nottinghamshire bowler Jake Ball has today been named in England’s Ashes squad to tour Australia this winter.
The Mansfield-born seamer will join county team-mate Stuart Broad on the plane as part of a 16-man squad to compete Down Under for cricket’s biggest prize.
Ball, 26, missed a key chunk of the season when he picked up a knee injury that ruled him out of the Royal London One-Day Cup Final against Surrey and the first Test of the summer against South Africa.
But he has fought his way back strongly, finishing as the second highest wicket-taker in the NatWest T20 with 22 victims from 14 matches as the Notts Outlaws won the competition.
That form warranted a place in England’s one-day squad to face the West Indies, with the fourth match in that series taking place at the Oval today.
Ball has so far made three Test appearances, making his debut at Lord’s in last summer’s series against Pakistan.
Broad, meanwhile, will be looking to add to his 388 Test wickets and looking for a repeat of heroics in 2015, when he took 8-15 against Australia at Trent Bridge.
The Nottingham-born 31-year-old has played in the Test series wins over South Africa and the West Indies this summer.
Broad has made 109 Test match appearances to date and stands second on England’s all-time Test wicket-takers list behind his opening partner at international level, James Anderson, who has 506.
England squad for the Magellan Ashes: Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince and Chris Woakes.
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