简明释义：
Paceman Dale Steyn proved his fitness after a broken thumb, however, ensuring the Lions were penned in with a new ball spell of 1-13 from six overs, claiming the wicket of highly-rated Joe Denly.
BBC: South Africa deny battling Lions
The ball of the thumb, ie the part near the palm
大拇指下面近掌心的球形部分
So Tom unwound the thread from one of his needles, and each boy pricked the ball of his thumb and squeezed out a drop of blood.
31于是汤姆拿出一根针，去掉了线。两个孩子各自往大拇指上戳了一下，然后挤出两滴血来。
In picture "A" above you can see with the wrist bent back that part of the weight of the ball will be resting on the base of the thumb.
在图片“A”你能看手腕向后摆动时， 一部分的球的重量会移向拇指的下部。
He held up his hand, rubbing the ball of the thumb over the calloused palm and gazing at the dirt that was ingrained in the flesh itself and which no brush could scrub away.
他抬起手用拇指肚揉揉长满老茧的手掌。细看着嵌入肌理的连刷子也刷不掉的污垢。