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YORKSHIRE director of cricket Martyn Moxon believes Gary Ballance is up against it if he is to force his way back into the England Test team – but refused to count the struggling lefthander out.
Ballance was recalled to the Test side for the summer series with Pakistan after a one-year absence, but a series of disappointing scores has seen him removed from the firing line.
The 27-year-old made 9, 5, 1 and 9 in his four innings against Bangladesh in October, which was enough for the England selectors to axe him ahead of the current tour of India.
A fresh start under Andrew Gale now beckons for Ballance at Yorkshire, for whom the 27-yearold has scored 15 first-class centuries since his breakthrough year in 2011.
And while Moxon has backed Ballance to put his England travails to one side and hit the ground running back at Headingley, he concedes there is much work ahead to win over the selectors again.
“As far as getting back into the England team, he is going to have to score a lot of runs, realistically, for them to consider him again,” said Moxon. “But he’s more than capable of doing that. His ability is there for all to see.
“The important thing now is, mentally, [the omission] doesn’t affect him enough so he goes backwards when he comes back to Yorkshire.
“I don’t think it will – I think he is strong enough mentally to deal with that.”
Ballance quickly stepped into the shoes of Jonathan Trott as a reliable accumulator of runs when he first broke into the England side in 2014, scoring four centuries in his first nine matches.
But the man who became the third-fastest England batsman to rack up 1,000 Test runs has been bereft of both confidence and form on the international stage since Jason Holder castled him in Bridgetown some 18 months ago.
Having been dropped during the Ashes, Ballance was called up again for the visit of Pakistan and again looked vulnerable – scoring just one half-century in seven innings – before earning a stay of execution for Bangladesh.
The subsequent problems that arose for the Zimbabwe-born man on the sub-continent stemmed from being caught in two minds, according to Moxon.
“He did well to get picked for this winter’s tour and get back into the side,” Moxon said.
“There’s always a delicate balance as a batsman that you don’t want to be reckless, you don’t want to get out to an attacking shot that goes wrong.
“For me, that was the problem – it was a case of him trying to hang in there, graft and grind and put a real value on his wicket.The problem was in Bangladesh, there’s always the chance of a ball that’s going to get you out.
“There’s pressure from the media, the public saying he failed, and pressure on the selectors for him to be left out, which ultimately he was after two matches.
“That is the biggest challenge to overcome, the pressure that you need to get runs, otherwise I could get dropped again.
“You’re between a rock and a hard place – if you play a shot and get out, you’re going to get criticised.
“If you don’t play shots, don’t get runs and then get out, you’ll get criticised then as well. It’s potentially a lose-lose.”
With Ben Duckett another specialist batsman to have fallen out of favour on the tour, England are now crying out for some ballast to add to their batting.
But if Ballance had been backed in India – improbable now unless he is afforded one more chance in the fifth Test – Moxon believes it could have been a different story.
“It’s unfortunate the selectors didn’t back him to start the India series, as I think the pitches, while still challenging, have been better than the ones in Bangladesh,” said Moxon.
“He succumbed to a couple of decent balls, and then the pressure just builds. It’s tough out there, the pitches are very challenging.
“That makes it slightly disappointing he didn’t get a chance in India, and give him the run in the team that might make him feel less under pressure to succeed.”