England set to select Gary Ballance for World Cup opener against Australia

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/13/gary-ballance-england-australia-cricket-world-cup

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Gary Ballance is set to play in England’s opening World Cup match against Australia in Melbourne. He is expected to replace Ravi Bopara in the middle order.

The Yorkshire left-hander has been out of action for some weeks with a fractured finger, and appeared to have missed out on selection. However, he played on Wednesday against Pakistan in the second of the two warm-up matches and made a composed half-century before falling to a boundary catch. Bopara, meanwhile, has struggled to find any form, while his bowling, which has kept him in the side on occasions, has scarcely been used.

Ballance is a prolific scorer for his county in limited-overs cricket, averaging over 50, but has played only 12 ODIs, the most recent of them in September, against India. But just over a year ago, in his second match, against Australia at the MCG, he made 79, top-scoring for England.

On that occasion he was batting at four, while his runs this week came at three, a position he was occupying because James Taylor was being rested. It is unlikely that he will bat there this time, with five more likely, the position he occupies for Yorkshire, so that Eoin Morgan can drop down one place to six.

Bopara has flattered to deceive all too often. He is a veteran of 119 matches but has scored only one century – against Ireland – and 14 half-centuries, which for someone who has for the most part batted in the top six, is unacceptable. Patience has finally run out.