All-rounder Adam Ball is hoping to “take the momentum” from his performance on the final day of last season, and use it to spur him on for Kent in 2014.

Ball hit his maiden First Class half-century in Kent’s astonishing chase of 418 to beat Lancashire on the final day of last season. The left-arm seamer made 69 in a partnership of 148 with Darren Stevens, who would go on to end the innings on 205 not out as Kent picked up an incredible two-wicket win.

And now, the 21-year-old has told KSN how he wants to use the confidence he gained from that innings to push on in the new campaign.

“Any performance like that gives you confidence, especially with it being my first First Class fifty and the fact that I haven’t actually been given that much opportunity with the bat so far for Kent”, he said.

“In my career going forward, it’s important that I fulfil that role of being a genuine all-rounder and am able to offer with the bat and the ball. I think that innings at the end of last year showed people that I can actually do it with the bat, and hopefully I can take the momentum from that performance at the start of this season.”

Ball, who now has almost 60 appearances in all competitions for Kent, is also keen to claim his starting spot in the four-day side, having only featured 11 times in the longer form of the game in his career so far.

“From a one-day and T20 point of view, I’d like to think that I’m pretty settled in that team now and have been for the past couple of years and have done a pretty good job in that team”, he said.

“I think looking forward, I want to burst into that four-day team and start cementing my place in all three formats, and become a reliable figure of this team.”

Unlike some of the other younger members of the squad, Ball did not go overseas during the off-season, instead staying in Canterbury to prepare for the new campaign.

“I’ve spent quite a lot of time in the indoor school, so it’s quite nice to get outside and it was good to play the two friendly games and get out there and get some overs under our belts and some time in the middle”, he told KSN at the club’s annual press day.

Having been working on his technique, he has now been looking to implement what he has learned in the club’s pre-season games. Ball has also been named in the 12-man squad to take on Loughborough MCCU in a game scheduled to begin today at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.

“From a bowling point of view, I worked quite hard on my bowling this winter because it didn’t go quite as well as I wanted it to last year. I had quite a few technical issues that had crept in, so I tried to get them out of my game.

“First off I didn’t go too well on Monday [in the pre-season 50-over game against Durham] but I learned from that, came back on Tuesday [in the T20 games] and bowled pretty well. I feel as if I’m in a pretty good place with my bowling now and hopefully I can take that into the start of the season.”

 

Top picture supplied by www.sarahansellphotography.com