Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance has been tipped to shine for England in the West Indies by his 'Uncle' Dave Houghton, the former Zimbabwe international.

Zimbabwe-born batsman Ballance lived with Houghton, now on the coaching staff at Middlesex, when he first came to England almost ten years ago.

Houghton was Derbyshire coach at the time, and he offered Ballance a place in their Academy and found him a local club.

The 25-year-old, has since gone from strength to strength, scoring three hundreds in his opening eight Tests for his adopted country having debuted for England early last year.

Unfortunately, however, the left-hander, who bats at three for the Test team, has struggled in one-day international cricket.

He recently posted only 10, 10, 10 and 6 in four World Cup matches, leading some to question his Test place for the three-match series in the Caribbean, starting next week.

But Houghton, whose wife is the cousin of Ballance’s father and is known to Gary as ‘Uncle Dave’, said: “You can’t pick Test teams based on one-day form.

“The Test team that played at the end of last summer was in a winning position, they had a good summer, beat India at home, and Gary was very much part of it.

“His stats stand up for themselves, so I would expect him to kick on in the West Indies.

“I think he will have a long and very fruitful Test career, and I also hope that by the time the next World Cup comes around, he’ll be right on top of his one-day game too.”

“He has got all the shots. Very powerful over extra-cover, over mid-wicket, he plays all the ramps.

“In one-day cricket for Yorkshire, he has demolished people with an array of shots that probably only Jos Buttler has got the equivalent of.”