Martyn Charles John Ball (born 26 April 1970, in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

) is an English former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. He was a right-handed batsman and right-arm off-break bowler. He spent his 19-year career at

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. Ball made his first-class debut in 1988 and continued to bowl a trademark floating off-break for several years, and in 1996 was offered his first county cap. Ball was at the forefront of Gloucestershire's rise to the top of the English game, in a county which at the time was producing few top-quality players. Ball replaced

Robert Croft Robert Damien Bale Croft MBE (born 25 May 1970) is a former Welsh cricketer who played international cricket for England. He is an off-spin bowler who played for Glamorgan and captained the county from 2003 to 2006. He retired from first class c ...

when the latter revealed he was uncomfortable about going on the 2001-02 tour to India, but the selectors handed starts to

Richard Dawson Richard Dawson (born Colin Lionel Emm; 20 November 1932 – 2 June 2012) was a British-born American actor, comedian, game-show host and panelist in the United States. Dawson was well known for playing Corporal Peter Newkirk in ''Hogan's Hero ...

and

Ashley Giles Ashley Fraser Giles (born 19 March 1973) is a former English first-class cricketer, who played 54 Test matches and 62 One Day Internationals for England before being forced to retire due to a recurring hip injury. Giles played the entirety of ...

over Ball on tour. Ball was involved with the

Professional Cricketers' Association The Professional Cricketers' Association is the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey (when it was known as the Cricketers' Association). In t ...

, initially as a player's representative before rising to the rank of chairman at the end of his career. He retired in January 2007 and now works for an American real estate company.Gloucestershire's Ball to retire
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Martyn 1970 births Living people English cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Cricketers from Bristol