England's Gary Ballance keen to prove Graeme Smith wrong

Gary Ballance has said that he is eager to prove Graeme Smith wrong during England's upcoming tour of South Africa.

The 26-year-old has not featured for the Test side since the second Ashes encounter of the summer, having scored just 36 runs in four innings against New Zealand in the series prior to that.

However, Ballance's form in the County Championship for Yorkshire since then has earned him a recall for the four Tests against the Proteas, the first of which gets underway on Boxing Day.

News of Ballance's inclusion prompted former South Africa captain Smith to write on Twitter last month: "Very surprised England have selected Ballance for tour of SA. Thinking our fast bowlers might be licking their lips."

When informed of that tweet by the Daily Mail, Ballance replied: "That's the first I've heard of it. Everyone's got their opinion and if he feels that way, then fine.

"It's not the first time someone's said bad things about me and hopefully I'll be able to prove him wrong."

In his 15 Test appearances, Zimbabwe-born Ballance has scored 1,194 runs at an average of 47.76.