Ballance Earns England Selection

I am so thrilled and pleasantly surprised to see our mid-order maestro Gary Ballance get selected for the forthcoming Ashes tour, alongside fellow Tyke batsmen Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root. Tim Bresnan may also feature on the Ashes tour, but he still has to recover from injury and has been excluded from the official tour party, which suggests that his chances are perhaps quite slim.   

Although Ballance has undeniably been in fine fettle for the last couple of summers and also impressed with the England Lions, I must question the England selectors who have recently contradicted themselves and become strangely unpredictable.

Twas only weeks ago that Paul Taylor was included in a test thirteen ahead of an Ashes test. Now he has suddennly been overtaken by Mr Ballance. I find that a little strange, though as a Yorkshireman, I welcome it. I do know that Ballance will be a big hit at test level. In fact Jonathan Agnew has already suggested that competition for the number six slot between county colleagues Bairstow and Ballance should be red-hot. While Bairstow remains firmly in the frame as Matt Prior's successor, Gary Ballance seems the better bet for the number six berth and needs to be inserted there as soon as possible, preferably for the First Test at Brisbane in November.

I also find it strange that Nick Compton has been overtaken by Michael Carberry. The selectors were patient when Compton failed to make a big score in India in spite of a number of starts. He then vindicated their faith in him with centuries in back-to-back tests in New Zealand, yet when the Kiwis flew in our direction, the same selectors got cold feet after two abject tests from Nick. Tis funny how a guy could record two tons and then be discarded a few months later. Talk about the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune! Anyhow, I don't begrudge Carberry his time in the sun. He has been a consistent performer on the county circuit for several years now.

In the bowling department, Boyd Rankin has hit peak form at the right time while Ben Stokes is another cricketer who has been excelling for high-flying Durham. These choices make sense. The inclusion of loose cannon Panesar is also sensible in so far as he is our second best spinner. However, the selectors have been harsh with Chris Woakes, who has gone from playing in the Fifth Test to being overlooked for the two winter tour parties. Personally, contrary to the opinion of Alec Stewart, I think that England's seam-bowling cupboard is starting to look bare for the foreseeable future. Who are the demon bowlers, the hostile pacemen, and terrifying quicks of the future? We appear to be heading back to the bad old days of fielding three or four 'fast'-medium seamers who have about as much 'pace' as an elderly lady with a zimmer frame. I fear that mediocrity beckons when Jimmy Anderson exits the stage and we are left with the inconsistent [but occasionally brilliant] Broad to carry the attack as the senior bowler. Heaven help us.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire's selector[s] has/have a lot of explaining to do as well. Why not rest Ballance for the final County Championship match against Surrey? It would be a tragedy if he got injured in this match of no importance. There is indeed nothing meaningful riding on this final fixture of the summer and consequently the white rose county should have blooded a few of their young guns in this engagement against an already relegated team. There should have been starts for the likes of Callis, Coad, and Rhodes. What is to be gained from fielding a full-strength team? This is a missed opportunity and is most regrettable, thinks me.