Jake Ball is in the mix for the 1st Test in Brisbane: Paul Farbrace

Jake Ball suffered a sprained ankle during a warm-up match against Cricket Australia XI.

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Jake Ball of England
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Jake Ball of England. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

England’s assistant coach Paul Farbrace is very confident of Jake Ball returning to action, sooner than the cricketing fraternity had expected. He feels that Ball will be ready for the 1st Ashes Test, which will take place at the Gabba, in Brisbane from 23rd November onwards. The pacer suffered a sprained ankle during a warm-up match against Cricket Australia XI.

The visitors are without their key man Ben Stokes and they had to handle the injury of Steve Finn as well. But this will come as a good news for the defending champions, as they prepare to take on a new-look Australian side in the Test series.

The coach has shown a lot of confidence in the youngster and has said that Ball is very much in the scheme of things for the 1st Test. “We wanted Ball to get some time in the field. If he’s going to be available to play next week, he has to spend some time on the field. So we told the umpires Alastair Cook has an upset stomach – and he does have a slightly upset stomach – so Ball can get on the field. He bowled in the nets today and he will bowl 15 overs in the nets tomorrow. He, therefore, gives himself a great chance to play next week. He is absolutely, definitely in the mix for the first Test. We’ve no doubts about him,” said Farbrace, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

It was a pretty awful dismissal: Farbrace

On Craig Overton’s poor dismissal, he said “It was a pretty awful dismissal. It was a short ball he should have hit over the trees. But he’s turned it into short leg’s box. Not ideal. You can’t say he’s out of form as he’s only faced 13 balls in three innings. But he’s here for his bowling – which has been outstanding – and any runs he contributes is a bonus.”

Speaking of England’s performance in the warm-up match on Friday, Farbrace said that it was a mixed sort of day. “It was a bit of a mixed day. We’ve had two really good days but today we’ve slipped a fraction from the standards we would have expected. We got ourselves in a good position in the game but in terms of going into next week we have not quite been as good as we could have been. There were one or two soft dismissals. The lads have worked hard – they’re not machines; they make mistakes – so perhaps it’s a good timely reminder that we have to be on our game all the time. It’s quite a good reminder with the Test starting next week that we’ve got to be fully focused every day and every session.”

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