I’M really happy for Gary Ballance that he’s back in the England Test squad for next month’s tour to South Africa.

His turbulent seven months was a little bit unwarranted in my opinion.

But for Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett to find themselves left out is really disappointing.

Adil may not have got the wickets that he or England wanted him to get in the second and third Tests against Pakistan, but he did get five wickets on debut and all the spinners got whacked.

I just feel like it’s a bit of a backward step.

You’ve got this exciting talent, a leg-spinner, and if we’re honest we haven’t had a decent spinner for some time now. What sort of message does this send to him?

In terms of Liam, I don’t know how somebody can fall out of favour in the space of a five to six-week period when they haven’t played a game.

If you’ve got somebody who can bowl 90mph, it’s a handy attribute to have, especially with Finn and Wood injured. That was interesting to see.

Mark Footitt is a really raw, talented bowler who is a good signing for Surrey. He’s an interesting pick for England.

The only argument I’d have, and we’ve had it many times in the past, is first and second division.

When he played in the first division with Derby, I think he was injured half the season and then when he played, he didn’t necessarily do that well.

There’s no doubt he’s a wicket-taker, and when he’s bowling well is a handful. But he will always give you bad balls to hit, and you don’t feel like he’s right on top of you. It’s a different option. I don’t think it’s a bad selection, I just think the de-selection of Liam is a bit strange.

The other selection call which I don’t mind at all is Nick Compton’s.

Compton is a solid performer year on year, and he did ok when he last played.

At that time, it was obvious they wanted Rooty to open the batting and, despite doing well in India and New Zealand with a couple of centuries, he found himself out of the side.

If he plays again, I’m sure he’ll do a good job, He probably deserves another bite at the cherry.

Adil and Liam are experienced enough to deal with their disappointments. They are 27 and 30-years-old, and have been through this kind of thing before.

Adil can now look forward to joining Adelaide Strikers for the Big Bash, and I’m confident Liam will be in good spirits when he returns to training with us at Yorkshire.

****

The first ever day/night Test match with the pink ball starts in Adelaide this week when Australia take on New Zealand.

And while I can see that it’s trying to make cricket more accessible, I think it’s one side of the game that we shouldn’t touch.

As a young player, Test match cricket is still the pinnacle. I dream of playing a Test with the red ball in whites. It’s the Holy Grail. I’m not a big fan of the pink ball idea.

It will be interesting to see how it goes, but I didn’t enjoy playing with it in the MCC game in Abu Dhabi in March.

I know a few people who are colour blind obviously struggle. Chris Rogers is one and Gary Ballance is another. I think you will alienate future Test cricketers, even current Test cricketers.

As soon as it gets to dusk, the ball misbehaves but hardly swings in the day.

You can lose sight of it in the outfield. Fielding at slip, I’m quite fortunate that I can see it all the way. But the further you are away and more square of the wicket you are, you struggle.

Last year fielding at gully in practice, I reckon Will Rhodes maybe caught nine out of 30 catches because he wasn’t picking the ball up.

Still, I’d expect Kane Williamson to score runs against it given the form he’s in at the moment.

Over the last 12-18 months, he’s probably been the most consistent batsman in the world. His practice is meticulous, and he just churns out the runs.

*****

Finishing with Yorkshire matters. It’s great to hear that plans to take first-class cricket back to Bradford Park Avenue are progressing.

I have not played there, but it’s a great opportunity to bring cricket back into the community. Scarborough is always really successful and well supported.

It would be nice to have a couple of outgrounds because you bring people and the community together.

If we can get that into a real good first-class venue, it can only be a major positive for Yorkshire cricket, cricket in that area and the county as a whole.

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