Andrew Gale tips Yorkshire team-mate Gary Ballance for England Test recall

31 March 2016 03:53

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale expects team-mate Gary Ballance to be recalled to the England Test team this summer.

Ballance was dropped during last year's Ashes series against Australia and did not feature over the winter despite being a member of the squad in South Africa.

But, skipper Alastair Cook aside, England are still short of reliable performers in the top three and Gale believes Ballance should soon come back into the reckoning.

The 26-year-old, who has played 15 Tests, underlined his credentials with a century for the county champions in last week's traditional season-opener against the MCC in Abu Dhabi.

Gale said: "He looks a million dollars if I'm being honest. He looks back to the old Gary.

"He has got that selfish hunger for runs back and that stubbornness about his batting. If he keeps going like he has in the last few weeks he is going to get a lot of runs. The flipside of that is he is going to get a call-up at some stage.

"I know he says England is right at the back of his mind and doesn't want to think about it. He just wants to start the season well and play good cricket for Yorkshire.

"But I think England have probably got a decision to make for that first Test - whether they go with (Alex) Hales and (Nick) Compton again or whether they pick one of them and get Gary back in. That's a possibility."

Gale was speaking at the official launch of the new domestic season at Old Trafford. His side are bidding for a third successive Specsavers County Championship title this year but the 32-year-old expects the challenge to be the toughest yet.

Gale said: "I believe it is the strongest division I have seen for a long time. You usually get a team who have scraped up or have a team whose aim is to stay in the First Division, but with teams like Surrey and Lancashire coming up, they are probably aiming to win the County Championship.

"You could go through every team and say if they get out of the blocks well they could win it."

Source: PA