Gary Ballance column

Andrew Gale leads from the front in every way. He trains as hard as anybody in the squad and he is usually the first one out in the nets in the morning before the start of play.

With that in mind, it was great to see him get 75 in the first innings of our County Championship draw against Somerset at Taunton after not scoring a fifty so far this season.

Lythy (Adam Lyth) and Rash (Adil Rashid) batted well for their centuries but Galey really dug in there when they were bowling well. He got a really good contribution but he was understandably disappointed not to get a hundred. When you work so hard to get set, you want to push on and get to three figures.

But he played well and was getting into some good positions, which bodes well for the future. He is hitting the ball well in the nets, so let’s hope he can convert that into big runs.

It was disappointing to lose the first day to rain but overall we played some good cricket and dominated the game. We batted well to put ourselves in a good position. Bowling was tough on a good wicket but we stuck to our guns and bowled well for 100 overs.

To get them out for 300 and keep them at three an over was a very good effort there. If we had an extra day, we probably would have been able to force a result.

We are certainly looking forward to our clash with Nottinghamshire at Scarborough, which starts on Wednesday, because everyone loves playing there. It is certainly one of my favourite grounds.

It is a place that has all the ingredients. It is a nice ground, a good wicket for both batters and bowlers – there is normally good pace and bounce in it – and there is a good atmosphere in the crowd too.

It will be a tough game against Notts because they are a good side with a lot of experienced players who we have had some good battles with in the last couple of years. But if we can continue to play the way we are, it is a fixture that we should be able to win.

On a similar note to Galey, it was also great to see Tim Bresnan back in England colours – where he belongs – over the weekend.

Brezzy is a quality international bowler. He obviously missed out on the Test matches, so hopefully he can cement a place in the one-dayers over the next few weeks.