Ballance: I’m ready for a big summer

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This winter has definitely been the most productive of my career so far.

The couple of winters I spent in Zimbabwe with the Rhinos did a lot for me and my game - I had quite a lot of success over there to give me confidence I could perform regularly in first-class cricket.

But the Champions League went well for me and Yorkshire in October, and then I went to India for a month with the Performance Programme before this Lions trip to Australia.

I have had a few good individual performances against some high-quality bowling, which has given me the belief that I can keep performing for Yorkshire and also step up a level if called upon.

With the final match of the series against Australia A being washed out in Sydney today, my last innings was ended on 73 when I top-edged a ball into my helmet grill and chin during the fourth match earlier this week.

We needed about 80 off 60 balls, so we had to go at a decent rate. I tried to pull from a decent length. It was quite nasty, but I have recovered okay. The physio thought it might be a broken jaw at the time.

Now it is all about Yorkshire and the start of the season next month, which I am really looking forward to.

It doesn’t look like I will be going to Barbados with Yorkshire in a week or so because I will have a couple of weeks off to rest up ahead of the season.

In terms of my ambitions of breaking into the full England squad, it is going to be very tough because they have a lot of strong players at the moment, as there are with the Lions as well.

All I can do is concentrate on helping Yorkshire to win games. If I get a chance with the Lions again this summer, I have to score as many runs as possible.

Obviously, I want to play for England as soon as possible, but I know I have to be patient. When that opportunity comes, I have got to be ready.