Gary Ballance surprised with England call-up

England batsman Gary Ballance admitted that he was pleasantly surprised by his return into the side for the first Test against Pakistan. He said that the news came to him when he was busy grocery shopping.

Ballance was dropped during the Ashes against Australia last year after a poor run in the series. He has now been called up as a replacement for Nick Compton, who is taking time away from the game after a bad run in the Test series against Sri Lanka.

“It’s all come as a bit of a surprise,” Ballance told British media.

“It’s a great feeling to be back in the squad, especially when you’ve been out of the side for a while. I was just doing a bit of grocery shopping when I got the call from national selector James Whitaker – just a standard Thursday morning!” he said.

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The 26-year old is likely to feature in the playing eleven but may not be in the normal no.3 slot. He might be coming out at no.4 or no.5 as Joe Root was the regular no.3 in the recently concluded Test series against Sri Lanka.

He had a moderate domestic season and England will be hoping that he translates that into bigger ones in the Test series against Pakistan. “I’ve felt good the last few weeks, I’ve been playing well, I just haven’t got that big score that gets you noticed,” the left-hander added.

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Balance has represented England in 15 Test matches and has a healthy average of almost 48. He has scored 1194 runs with 4 centuries and 6 half-centuries. England will take on Pakistan in the first Test match at the Lord’s Cricket Ground on July 14.