Gary Ballance has revealed his delight at being named in England's Ashes squad, saying: “I’ll work as hard as I can to prove the selectors right.”
Yorkshire captain Ballance will seemingly fight it out with Dawid Malan and James Vince for two batting spots in the top order.
Ahead of the first Test at Brisbane on November 23, he has three warm-up games in Perth, Adelaide and Townsville to press his case.
Ballance played the first two Tests of the home summer against South Africa, but he suffered a broken finger at the hands of Morne Morkel and did not get back in.
Unfortunately, he did not manage to reach 1,000 runs in the County Championship, finishing with 951.
Nevertheless, he has enjoyed a superb personal season with three hundreds and four fifties in Division One, including a top score of 203 not out.
“I’m delighted to be in the squad,” said the 27-year-old left-hander, who admitted some surprise at his selection.
“It’s a huge honour to go on an Ashes tour. I’ve been on one before, my first tour with England (in 2013/14). I made my debut at Sydney, and it was a great experience apart from the result.
“Now that I’ve played a few more games and have a bit more experience, I can’t wait for the challenge.
“I was a bit surprised, although I had a feeling there was a decent chance of me getting the call. I’m not the kind of bloke who will say ‘I’m definitely going to be in’.
“But it’s always good news to get the phone call because I’ve certainly been on the end of some bad news.
“It will be a massive challenge, probably one of the biggest I will face as a cricketer. I love a challenge and can’t wait.”
Ballance has scored four hundreds and seven fifties in 23 previous Tests, but only two of those fifties have come in his last 13 appearances since the start of May 2015.
It has led to plenty of scrutiny over his technique.
“I’m going to work as hard as ever. I’m going to have a week off now and then work as hard as I can. When I do go to Oz, I’ll be ready to perform.”
Ballance has most recently batted at three in England’s Test team, although the likelihood is he would bat at five if selected for the Gabba.
“I’ve batted everywhere in the last few years. To be honest, I just want to play. Wherever I bat, I’ll be happy,” he added, also giving a nod to his Yorkshire team-mates Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, who will travel as two of England’s most senior players.
“I’ve played a lot of cricket with Jonny and Joe, but I’ve played a lot of cricket with most of the guys. It will be nice that it won’t be too new for me. It’s nice to go into a series with some familiar faces.”