His made his first-class cricket debut for the club against Sussex early in the 1996 season, taking four wickets in the match.

[2] He failed to impress during the following match against Leicestershire, taking no wickets,[3] and only made one more first-class appearance in the season.

Between 1999 and 2001 he turned out regularly for Kent Second XI and played a spell of three one-day matches for the first team.

[6] Injury hampered his chances to make a serious impression at Somerset,[7] and by late 2009 he was primarily considered a squad player, with Director of Cricket Brian Rose stating "[Somerset] need people of Ben's calibre to come into the side when it is weakened for any reason.

"[7] He joined Nottinghamshire in 2011 and although injury disrupted his first season, he was a mainstay of their County Championship attack in 2012 taking 30 wickets at 27.10.