Monday 3 July 2017 10:01, UK
Eight months after being axed for averaging just six in two Tests against Bangladesh, Gary Ballance is back in England's Test squad.
It's his second recall after being dropped during the 2015 Ashes, so will the 27-year-old now nail down his spot for the long-term?
Test series against South Africa and West Indies await this summer, with a trip to Australia looming on the horizon.
Speaking on the latest 'Cricket Writers on TV' podcast, Mike Atherton suggested the Yorkshireman still has plenty to prove.
"Ballance is getting runs for fun," said the former England captain. "He clearly is a very fine player but when he has played against a slightly elevated attack or quicker bowlers he has looked vulnerable.
"England are going to Australia this winter - they will probably be playing Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, James Pattinson; that's a serious attack. I reckon he's a captain's pick."
So here's the story of Ballance's Test career so far…
CAREER STATS - Tests: 21, Inns: 38, Runs: 1413, HS: 156, Ave 39.25
OVERVIEW: Ballance racked up 1,060 runs in his first 11 Tests - including five fifties and four hundreds - but just 353 runs in his most recent 10 Tests, at an average of 18.50.
PART ONE: A rip-roaring start
Ballance stepped into the breach on the ill-fated Ashes tour of 2013/14, coming into the side for the fifth and final Test in place of an out-of-sorts Joe Root with the series already well and truly lost. Scores of 18 and seven couldn't stave off an Ashes whitewash but Ballance would go on to score four centuries in his next eight matches.
The first of those came against Sri Lanka - a pain-staking 104no off 188 balls at Lord's - and India were then in the firing line in successive Tests, at HQ and the Ageas Bowl, where Ballance chalked up his personal best of 156.
England's number three spot seemed secure for the foreseeable as Ballance chimed in with 122 against West Indies at North Sound - becoming the third fastest England player to score 1,000 runs on the tour.
PART TWO: The Ashes axe falls
Things began to unravel in the summer of 2015 when New Zealand restricted him to just 36 in four Test innings - and Ballance's form failed to pick up at the start of the 2015 Ashes. After scoring 61 and a duck in the victory at Cardiff, Ballance made 23 and 14 in a dire England showing at Lord's.
Assessing the batsman's technique, Bob Willis asked: "Are his shoe-laces tied together? I don't think you can play Test cricket batting within the popping crease all the time and, if he is not getting bowled out, he is wanting to feel bat on ball."
Ballance hit back by saying he would not tinker with his method but for the meantime had to step aside, with Jonny Bairstow coming in to play his part in England's memorable victory.
PART THREE: A rocky return
Ballance's exile lasted almost exactly one year, the Yorkshireman finding some timely form to step back into the side when Nick Compton announced he was taking a break from the game.
Batting at five, the frailties against spin that would haunt him in the subsequent series against Bangladesh, were exposed by Yasir Shah, who dismissed him on five out of seven occasions.
A return of 195 from seven innings was just about acceptable but the selectors could not stand by Ballance after he scored just 24 runs in four knocks in Bangladesh.
Willis reflected: "I'm not sure why he was picked for the tour. He was added to the list of England left-handers that struggled against the young off-spinner, Mehedi Hasan, with his second innings dismissal in Dhaka a real shocker."
PART FOUR: Third time's a charm?
Ballance's second stint in the international wilderness was even shorter than his first, the Yorkshireman pressing his case for a recall under new captain and county team-mate Root by creaming runs a plenty in the County Championship - his tally of 815 only second to Kumar Sangakkara.
But where should he fit into the side? Nasser Hussain said: "The key for me is who is going to bat at three? Is Joe Root, in his first game as captain going to, or is it going to be Gary Ballance? I hope it is Root because I don't think Ballance is a number three in Test match cricket."
Join us for the first Test between England and South Africa live on Sky Sports 2 this Thursday from 10am.
