Jake Ball, former WA junior cricketer, out to bowl over Wallabies with Wales

AAP
November 06, 2014 11:45AM



IT is not stretching the boundaries of sporting fantasy to suggest Wales lock Jake Ball might have played cricket for Australia had he not loathed fielding so much.

But Australia’s loss is Wales’ gain, and Ball will run out against the Wallabies on Saturday for a rugby Test match.

During a previous sporting life, the bearded forward struck fear into opposition batsmen on wickets renowned for their pace and bounce in Western Australia.

A teenage cricketing peer of Australian Test duo Shaun and Mitchell Marsh and tutored by their father — former Australia Test opening batsman Geoff Marsh.

Ball, a former fast bowler, describes his slinging action as similar to Australia’s current spearhead Mitchell Johnson, but “probably more Jeff Thomson”.

England-born Ball emigrated to Australia with his family at the age of 16 and cricket was the sporting plan.

“I went out there to play cricket, and I did it for two years,” said Ball, who qualifies for Wales due to his Welsh father.

“I was a fast bowler and I played alongside the Marsh boys.

I miss the competitive edge of the bowling, but I hated standing in the field and I was a tailend batsman as well, so I ended up spending a lot of time sitting around.

“I was probably a bit over the top when I played cricket.

“If I got nicked through slips and that, it would be a case of trying to keep my cool. I wouldn’t say it was sledging — I was more of a quiet angry man, I think.”

Ball, 23, had opened the bowling for Western Australia under-19s, but he added: “I realised that cricket wasn’t the path I wanted to go down. I missed my rugby.”

Ball captained Surrey under-15s rugby team before heading to Australia, and he was training with the Western Force Super Rugby squad when the Scarlets spotted him before quickly offering him a three-year contract in 2012.

Less than two years later, he broke into the Wales squad, making his Test debut as a replacement against Ireland during last season’s Six Nations before starting against France and England.

He also toured South Africa with Wales in June, featuring during the agonising 31-30 second Test defeat in Nelspruit, and Ball is viewed as an important part of head coach Warren Gatland’s second-row armoury alongside the likes of Alun-Wyn Jones, Bradley Davies and Luke Charteris.

“I am just happy to get this opportunity, to be honest,” he added, ahead of a first start against major southern hemisphere opposition.

“I think it is going to be a brutal contest, and we will get stuck into it like we would any international game.

“I know a couple of their players (Matt Hodgson and Ben McCalman) as well, so it means a lot to me this game. To get picked (in the Wales starting XV) was a big goal of mine.”

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/wa...-1227114504306