Ballance: I was gutted for a few days

England batsman Gary Ballance, who was dropped after the second Ashes Test, has said that he has received assurances from the national selectors that he remains in their plans.

The 25 year-old was dropped in favour of his Yorkshire teammate Jonny Bairstow after England suffered a massive 405-run defeat to Australia at Lord's in which Ballance only contributed scores of 23 and 14.

After an impressive star to his Test career the Zimbabwe-born Ballance has struggled in his last four Test innings, scoring only one half-century, and having a few technical issues.

Ballance said: "I was obviously gutted for a few days, but I've cleared my head and hopefully I can look forward now.

"They (the selectors) said: 'We still want you in our side, we want you in our thoughts. Just go away and score some runs,' and hopefully it'll be sooner than later that I get back in the side."

The Ashes is currently locked at one-all after England won the first Test in Cardiff. The third Ashes Test starts on Wednesday at Edgbaston.

Latest