COVERED WINTER 2020

13 JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FOR ALL THE LATEST: TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK/MAILINGLIST JAKE BALL Jake Ball:The Body “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Gary Player, nine-times major golf champion Fast bowling is a brutal profession. To maintain a lengthy career requires impeccable training, conditioning and no little luck. It’s why the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad are seen almost as medical marvels, so remarkable is their longevity. It can sometimes seem, though, that they make those that hail from the north of the county from stronger stuff. Harold Larwood, that famed son of Nuncargate, would emerge from a shift in the mines of Annesley, don his flannels and open the bowling inWilliam Clarke’s back yard. Fast-forward 80 years, and here is Ball, shouldering the burdens of a depleted attack through a bumper-to-bumper 2020 season. As he gambols around our photoshoot location – playfully tinkling on a piano one moment, proclaiming himself ‘a hands in pockets man’ as he poses for the cover shot the next – it seems that the season has left no ill-effects. “This little block of cricket we’ve had this year has been great for me, to put the last few years behind me,” he says. “I feel like I’m as in control of the ball as I ever have been, in terms of bowling with swing or bowling a wobble-seam delivery and things like that. “I actually feel like I’m bowling the best I ever have.” As the game has changed over the years, so too have the physical demands on a bowler – and the preparations needed to withstand them. Mick Newell may have spoken earlier this year of Sir Richard Hadlee’s physical preparations, which extended no further than ‘six laps of the ground and press- ups’, but the modern bowler is likely to do his fair share of training in the gym – backed up by cold, hard statistics rather than educated guesswork. “It’s about making sure your core is strong enough to play the games as they come thick and fast,” says Ball. “With the demanding schedules we have, you have to get your recovery right – even if we’ve missed our post-game massages this year because of Covid! “You also have to get used to the idea of missing a game every now and again if the numbers that Pipey (James Pipe, Physio) and Pricey (Liam Price, Strength and Conditioning Coach) produce say you’re at risk of injury. “If you’re on a roll, you don’t want to do that, but if you play when you shouldn’t and end up out for a few months, that’s much more detrimental to the team than missing the odd game. “We’re all listening to those guys a lot more now – as much as we don’t want to if they’re saying we should miss a game!” Jake Ball:The Soul “It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.” Evander Holyfield, former heavyweight champion of the world We continue our chat in between takes as Ball poses for further photos at Welbeck Hall. As we stroll through a venue which bears the name of the 29-year-old’s hometown cricket club – and one which is pockmarked with fixtures and fittings in his beloved Everton’s blue – it seems appropriate to discuss the Jake Ball origin story. After a brief digression into Ball’s early- season optimism for Carlo Ancelotti’s Toffees – and tales of his own footballing career in the North Nottinghamshire school of hard knocks – we turn to what it means to represent your home county. “I grew up watching Notts, so to have ended up spending ten years now atTrent Bridge… it’s ‘dream come true’ stuff, do you know what I mean?” he says. “When you play for your home county, it’s sort of… it’s a different passion than maybe what somebody from another county might bring. It matters a little bit more to you. “THIS LITTLE BLOCK OF CRICKET HAS BEEN GREAT FOR ME... I FEEL LIKE I’M AS IN CONTROL OF THE BALL AS I EVER HAVE BEEN.” Jake Ball