Saturday 11 April 2015 20:36, UK
England launch their tour of the West Indies on Monday and Gary Ballance says they must return to the formula for success they enjoyed last summer.
England endured a dreadful World Cup, failing to make it out of the group stages and succumbing to an embarrassing defeat to Bangladesh as their campaign came to an early conclusion.
Peter Moores’ position as head coach has been questioned since those struggles, but the three-match Test tour of the West Indies offers the opportunity for the team to restore their battered reputation.
Ballance, whose struggles at No 3 typified England's travails, thinks the trip represents a good chance to begin again.
The criticism continues to be heaped on the squad but on the eve of a two-day warm-up against a St Kitts & Nevis XI, the Yorkshire batsman argued the time has come for the side to stop beating themselves up.
"It's been a tough winter but you have to move on," he said. "What's gone is gone, you have to move on and get better from it.
"We're obviously disappointed with how it went but you can't really dwell on it too much.
"You have to learn from what you did badly and try to get better, and that's what we're doing.
"It's a change of format now and we won our last three Tests so you have to take those positives into this series.
You have to learn from what you did badly and try to get better, and that's what we're doing.
"We have to look at last summer and produce the same kind of cricket in this series."
Ballance scored just 36 in four World Cup innings but his Test record is exemplary, with three centuries coming in seven matches last summer and a career average of 60.75 in the longer form.
"Test cricket has gone well for me, so I have to look at what I did well last summer and take that on," he said.
"I played a few loose shots at the World Cup, but that's cricket. Sometimes it doesn't go for you and you get low scores. It happens.
"But last year went well, I got a few big scores and I'll take that into this series."
The 25-year-old was firm in his support for Moores, who is under severe pressure to deliver a convincing win in the Caribbean.
"For me, he's been brilliant," said Ballance. "Since I started working with him I've scored a few runs in Test cricket so I've only got good things to say about him. He's been brilliant with me and everyone else, he's been very good.
"Everyone's behind him and everyone's behind Cooky (Alastair Cook). We're focusing on winning this series and not looking too far ahead."
England kick off their Test series in the West Indies on April 13 in Antigua. Watch live from 2.30pm, Sky Sports 2
