Gary Ballance wants to cement himself in England Test squad
Thursday 13 October 2016 18:33, UK
Gary Ballance hopes a strong showing this winter against Bangladesh will secure his place in England’s long-term Test plans.
Ballance averaged only 27.85 over the four Tests against Pakistan, with one half-century on day one of the third Test at Edgbaston.
"I thought I wasn't out of place, I felt good in most innings. It would have been nice to kick on and get a big score to cement myself in that middle order," he said.
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"I took a lot of positives from that experience and I can definitely build on that."
He added: "If you keep thinking 'I've got to score runs to stay in the side'... you can't think like that, you've just got to play each day as it comes, play the situation of the game.
"If I can have a good winter then it'll be great to cement myself but there's a lot of work to actually do that."
England play two two-day warm-up fixtures over the course of the next four days and Ballance is hopeful his preparation will reap rewards early in his tour.
He said: "There's going to be a lot of spin, I think we know that. I've done a few weeks before we came out facing a lot of spin.
"I know my method now, I've just got to put it into the games and if I can get a decent score early on, it gives you so much confidence for the rest of the trip."
