Three Lions not in Ballance’s mind
Alex Smith watches Gary Ballance make more runs, with coach Andrew Gale singing his praises
Head coach Andrew Gale is worried dressing room insider Joe Root is planning a coup to steal Gary Ballance away from Yorkshire.
Ballance became the first White Rose captain to make two centuries in a match while scoring 49 per cent of his side’s runs to save a draw against Hampshire.
The gritty middle-order batsman endured a frustrating 2016 with the Test side in which he only managed 124 runs in six games.
But after 508 runs in five innings since becoming his county’s captain, Ballance is attracting the attention of Yorkshire teammate and newly-crowned England Test skipper Root.
“I know there is a certain individual in that dressing room who rates him,” joked Gale. “There is still a lot of cricket to be played before that first Test so one step at a time. He was disappointed with the England stuff over the winter but you can tell he wants to lead from the front.
“Gary had a special game. We talked about him being a leader and his resilience and standing up as captain, but that really was a special knock to save us the game.
“He didn’t ever look like getting out, he was fantastic. He looks like he has a new found focus with the captaincy and his bit between his teeth.”
But Ballance himself is concentrating more on his day job than international ambitions. “I’m honestly not worrying about that [Test selection],” he explained. “It will take care of itself.
“I just really enjoy being able to focus on winning games for Yorkshire rather than selection and I’m going to keep doing that as long as I can.”
Hampshire remain unbeaten in the Championship having beaten Yorkshire at Headingley and push them and Middlesex hard for draws at home.
And director of cricket Giles White is happy his outfit are challenging the very best teams hard in 2017.
He said: “They say good teams are in the field a lot and that is encouraging for us and a nice change from recent years.
“We are making good sides battle hard for draws and after three games we are very pleased with the performances the team has put in.”