Jake Ball      

Jake Ball, a 23-year-old right-arm seamer, has long been predicted as a bowler with a bright future, but he reached the end of the 2013 season still awaiting his Championship debut. He did have a wonderful memory from 2013 to sustain him, however, in the semifinal of the YB40. He took 4 for 25, his best figures in senior cricket, as Somerset were beaten by some distance. Ball missed the final because of a back injury but could at least watch with satisfaction from afar as Notts brished aside Glamorgan to claim their fist piece of one-day silverware for more than 20 years.

The nephew of Bruce French, the former Nottinghamshire and England wicket-keeper, Ball is a former England Under-19 international. He made his Nottinghamshire debut at the end of the 2009 season, against Sussex in a Pro40 match at Hove. Bowling right-arm medium-pace, he claimed Rory Hamilton-Brown as his first senior wicket but when he batted he was out first ball as Dwayne Smith completed a hat-trick.

He played in two Under-19 Test matches in 2010, taking 5 for 64 in the second innings against Sri Lanka at Scarborough, to set up an England win. He made his first class debut for Nottinghamshire in the Champion County v MCC match in Abu Dhabi in March 2011, taking 3 for 72 in the second innings. Most of his county cricket so far has been in the 40-over format, in which he impressed enough in 2012 to be named Nottinghamshire's Young Player of the Year and be awarded a one-year contract extension.

ESPNcricinfo staff