GARY Ballance has just combated one South Africa quick and will now aim to get the better of another when Yorkshire take on Surrey at Scarborough.

The in-form White Rose batsman scored a first-innings century in the Specsavers County Championship draw against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl, with Dale Steyn impressing for the hosts with five wickets.

This week, Morne Morkel will lead table-topping Surrey’s attack at North Marine Road, starting tomorrow.

The pair have 728 Test Match wickets between them with power to add given Steyn, unlike Morkel, is still available to his country.

In fact, in all forms of international cricket, the pair have taken 1,190 wickets between them in South Africa colours.

“Steyn’s one of the best in the world, and everyone saw why last week,” said Ballance, whose 109 marked his first hundred of 2018. “He bowled at decent pace in a good area.”

And, as for Morkel, he continued with a smile: “Yeah, he’s also alright.

“Morkel’s a lot taller and gets more bounce. They are two very different bowlers, but both world-class. It will be another test for us at Scarborough.”

It has been a funny old season for Ballance, who started off slowly before taking a brief break from the game as he suffered from fatigue.

But he returned to action midway through the recent Royal London one-day Cup campaign and has posted scores of 27, 38, 66, 91, 25, 109 and 21.

A week and a half ago, it was confirmed that Ballance had stepped down as captain, to be replaced by Steve Patterson.

“My form’s been good,” he said.

“I think it helped me coming back into the one-dayers when you’re able to play with a bit more freedom.

“I’ve felt good over the last few weeks, and hopefully I can keep contributing.

“It doesn't feel too different (playing without the captaincy).

“I definitely feel more relaxed around game days, but I still want to be a senior player and help lads if needed and help Patto if he needs it.

“I’ve enjoyed the last few weeks, and hopefully that can continue.”

Assessing his year and a bit as captain, he said: “It was a tough year last year, but we have some good young players coming through.

“We’ve had some good performances recently, and hopefully we can continue that momentum we picked up in the Royal London games.”

Ballance’s record as a run-scorer while captaining Yorkshire, including matches as a stand-in prior to last year and this makes for impressive reading.

In all forms, he scored 1,977 runs at 59.9, including 10 fifties, five centuries and one double hundred.

“It’s not just about playing,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that go with it. I just felt stepping away was the best thing personally and for the team. Hopefully it works out.”

Ballance was also asked whether he could ever see himself taking on the role again if the opportunity arose. He added: “I don’t think so.

“I don't want to look too far ahead. I just want to enjoy playing again.

“If it came around again, we’d have to see what happens, but I’ve enjoyed the last few weeks.”

Ben Coad is expected to recover from a minor back niggle sustained at Hampshire to face the leaders, who have just beaten Somerset inside three days at Guildford.