YORKSHIRE’S Gary Ballance has not given up on his dream of playing in this winter’s World Cup.

The prolific left-handed batsman was a surprise omission from England’s squad for their forthcoming seven-match one-day international series against Sri Lanka, running between November 26 and December 16.

Ballance’s overall average in one-day cricket is an impressive 51.68 from 69 matches, yet his average in 12 ODIs is nowhere near as impressive at 26.10.

Yorkshire fans know the 24-year-old as a destructive force against the white ball, arguably as clean a striker of the ball as there is at Headingley.

Unfortunately, he has not demonstrated that to England coach Peter Moores and has had to make way for Nottinghamshire’s James Taylor and Essex’s Ravi Bopara as a result.

Ballance will be one of a handful of absentees from Yorkshire’s trip to Buckingham Palace tomorrow as part of their LV= County Championship title celebrations due to a pre-booked holiday.

But, upon his return, he is determined to be pro-active in his bid to return to England colours in time for the start of the international showpiece event in mid-February.

And he has not ruled out travelling abroad to play some domestic one-day cricket.

“I’ve worked hard on my game, and I feel like I’ve improved a bit. But it’s really disappointing,” said Ballance.

“There are still improvements to make, but there are so many good young players who have done well in the 50-over cup that I think they want to have a look at other players, which is fair enough.

“I have to believe I still have a chance (of playing in the World Cup).

“There’s still a couple of series to go. There’s the Sri Lanka one and there’s the tri-series in Australia after Christmas, so you never know. One injury may change things.

“To be involved in a World Cup would be amazing, so I can’t just forget about that now. I’m going to see what I need to get better at and work hard. If I get that chance again, hopefully I’ll take it this time.

“I’m definitely not going to sit around and hope I get a phone call. I’m going to have to go somewhere or do something that will give me a chance.

“Whether that’s going abroad or going on the Performance Programme, I don’t know.

“It will also be down to what the coaches and selectors think would be best for my game.

“Hopefully they will be in touch to advise me what’s best, and then we can move on and make a decision from there.”