Gary Ballance is hopeful he can taste success at Test level again

Gary Ballance thinks the time he has spent playing for Yorkshire recently has been good for him, following his demotion from the England Test team.

The 25-year-old left-hander is hopeful he will be able to reclaim his spot in the England batting order and re-capture the form he showed when he was first selected.

Ballance struggled for runs in the two Tests against New Zealand this spring and, although he made 61 in the first Ashes Test in Cardiff, he followed that with scores of 0, 23 and 14, and was dropped following the second Test defeat at Lord’s.

Speaking to Sky Sports at Headingley, Ballance said: “It hasn’t been easy but it has been good for me. It has been quite a tough summer with England.

“It has been good, the lads at Yorkshire have been brilliant. They are a great bunch of lads, I get on well with them.

I was pretty gutted (to be dropped by England) but you move on and look at ways of improving and becoming a better player.

“We have done well in this 50-over comp, I have got a few runs, and hopefully we can get a quarter-final place.

“I was pretty gutted (to be dropped by England) but you move on and look at ways of improving and becoming a better player.

“Hopefully, over the last few weeks, I have been able to do that. I have tried to get away from the pressure cooker of international cricket and tried to focus on scoring runs and winning games for Yorkshire.”

England bounced back from defeat at Lord’s with memorable victories at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, clinching the Ashes with a match to spare.

Ballance added: “It was mixed feelings. I was delighted for the lads to win an Ashes series and I can at least say I played two Tests.

“After the game (at Trent Bridge), six or seven of the guys FaceTimed me and said congratulations to me, so that was good of them.

“Overall, to be part of an Ashes-winning summer is amazing.”

Ballance played superbly for England last year, scoring three centuries, and is optimistic that he can enjoy similar success again.

“I wanted to play in that third (Ashes) Test but I understand that is how the game goes and how sport is,” he said.

 “You have got to be able to score runs even with the pressure around it. I did that at the beginning and hopefully I’ll be able to do that in the future.”

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