Thursday 4 August 2016 10:28, UK
Bob Willis believes that James Vince and Alex Hales can learn from Gary Ballance's patience and temperament in Test cricket.
Ballance top-scored for England on day one of the third Test against Pakistan, as the hosts were dismissed for 297 having been put in to bat.
The Yorkshire batsman, who had been under pressure heading into the match, was eventually caught behind for 70 off the bowling of Yasir Shah but had done enough in that time to impress Willis with his resilience at Edgbaston.
"England got off to a pretty good start, Alastair Cook in particularly free-flowing form for him," he told Sky Sports. "Then the wickets started to tumble and it was Gary Ballance, really playing for his place along with James Vince, who put on a good partnership - and it was Ballance who was the more convincing of the two.
"He had a rough time, he was left out of the side and no one likes that to happen. Then he went away and worked at his technique.
"The thing about Gary Ballance is that he has an excellent temperament for Test match cricket and some of the likes of Alex Hales and James Vince could learn from him in that regard. He's not as impetuous as some of those, he likes to play himself in.
"It's a five day game, you don't have to get all your runs in 10 minutes. I think that will have done Gary a lot of good today."
Moeen Ali was the only other England player to pass 50 and Willis felt that he too showed great patience to help Alastair Cook's side post a competitive total.
"Moeen Ali is a very talented batsman, he often gets left to bat with the tailenders but he too, like Ballance, was very, very patient today - there was no charging down the wicket to the leg-spinner," he added.
"Whenever the Pakistan bowlers strayed in line or length, Moeen Ali took full toll. Unfortunately he lost his partners, was left with the tail - Stuart Broad isn't quite the batsman he used to be - he had to go for runs and got that nick.
"It was a very valuable innings and England really would have been in the apple cart without him."
Willis also praised the "canny" selection of Sohail Khan by Pakistan after the seamer picked up five wickets in his first Test for nearly five years before discussing the 'Well, Charles...' documentary about his life - available to watch now On Demand.
"It's funny, I met the guys last summer when Andrew Strauss invited me to go and speak to the England team, in particular the bowlers," Willis said.
"I went with some trepidation but I was very well received and I think although they take it to heart at the time, when they think about it, we all get criticism in our jobs and I don't think I'm too hard on them!"
Don't miss 'Well, Charles…' - the Saturday Story on Bob Willis, during the Saturday lunch interval of the third Test between England and Pakistan or On Demand. National treasure or grumpy old man? Don't decide just yet…
