Gary Ballance column

I am looking forward to returning to Edgbaston this week as I scored my first hundred for Yorkshire there in 2011.

It was in the season we were relegated but it is always special to score your first hundred at a ground like Edgbaston, which is one of the best in the country. Let’s hope I can score some more runs this time around.

I remember it was during the last few games of the season. We had to win that game to give ourselves any chance of staying up.

I came in and we were four down with a small lead. I had to score quite quickly. I was 92 overnight, so I was a bit nervous. I came out the next day, played and missed at a few but managed to get one in the slot and get it away for four to get to a hundred.

I did have a few fifties beforehand but a lot of them were not outs in games when I needed to bat for time rather than runs. At that time it was a great feeling because I knew I could kick on from there.

My career started a bit later than some other people. I was 21, 22 and had a lot of time in the second team. But it has gone quite well from there for me and hopefully I can keep it going up in the right direction.

Warwickshire are the champions, so they are going to be a tough side to play against. They played great cricket last year and they’ll be up there again. To go there and get a win would be a great effort. It would also show other counties that we are up for the challenge.

Everyone feels happy and confident about their games because we played very well for the three days against Somerset last week.

It was a great effort to get so close to winning that match having lost more than a day to rain, so we’re going into Warwickshire believing we can win games from any position.

The first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s this week starts an exciting summer of international cricket, including the Champions Trophy and the Ashes, which everyone is looking forward to.

Australia are a good side but England will definitely go into that as favourites.

In terms of New Zealand, England did not play their best cricket over there in the winter, whereas New Zealand did. If England play to their best, it will be tough for New Zealand. With three Yorkshire lads in the squad, hopefully they will do well too.