Tom Westley ready to answer call for England's third Test with South Africa

The Essex batsman is one of three being considered to replace the injured Gary Ballance

Westley scored a century against South Africa for England Lions (Getty)

Tom Westley has told England’s selectors he is ready for the challenge of Test cricket, saying: “If there’s ever a time to play it would be now.”

With Gary Ballance’s broken finger ruling him out of next week’s third Test against South Africa at The Oval, Westley is being strongly considered to replace him along with Surrey’s Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan of Middlesex.

However, with the preponderance of left-handers in England’s batting line-up – and the ability shown by Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander to expose their weaknesses during South Africa’s second Test victory at Trent Bridge – Westley, as the sole right-hander among that trio, perhaps has the strongest case for a call-up.

Westley’s form for Essex this summer has put him closer to selection than ever before, the 28-year-old averaging 53.11 in Division One of the Championship and helping his county to the top of the table in their first season back in the top-flight.

He also scored an unbeaten century for England Lions in a tour match against South Africa in Worcester late last month, those runs coming against an attack that included three certain starters for the Proteas at The Oval in Morkel, Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada.

If timing is everything for a batsman, Westley’s has been immaculate this summer in terms of both his strokeplay and when and who he has scored his runs against.

Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Westley said: “I’m desperate to play for England, it would an absolute honour.

“I’ve felt good the last few years at Essex. My first-class record has been very good. I’ve scored runs for the Lions and scored runs against the touring first-class teams - I’ve been in a good space for a number of years. So if there’s ever a time to play it would be now.”

Westley has a strong first-class record for Essex this season (Getty)

On that unbeaten 106 against South Africa just under three weeks ago, Westley says: “There was no Philander but then there was Rabada, Morkel and Morris.

“I think scoring runs against the touring sides is a huge confidence booster. It’s probably not quite the intensity of Test level – that was their first real run-out in England. But it’s a nice middle ground and facing those same bowlers is a step up from Division One.”

Westley has form against touring sides, his hundred in Worcester following on from the first-class centuries he scored for Essex against Sri Lanka last summer and Australia in 2015.

It’s a sign that perhaps he won’t find the jump to Test level as daunting as some.

“I’d like to think facing international attacks brings the best out of me,” he says. “Getting the hundred against Australia and backing it up against Sri Lanka and then South Africa, I’d like to think it’s not just a fluke.

“Whether I raise my game or whether my game is just suited to that I don’t know until I’m exposed to it at Test level. But I can just take a lot of confidence from the fact I’ve scored those runs against some good bowlers and good attacks. It puts me in quite a good place.”

The spot in the team is available after Ballance's broken finger (Getty)

All Westley’s runs this summer have come from No3, the position Ballance has left vacant in England’s team. And it’s a role he is comfortable with.

“I’d bat anywhere if it meant playing for England,” he says. “If that meant batting at three, which I’ve done for Essex, I’d snap your hand off to play.

“It’s a role I’ve done for the past three years for Essex and it’s a position some people potentially don’t enjoy as much because you could be in first ball or after the 60th over.

“But having opened at the start of my career for 50 or 60 first-class games it didn’t feel like a huge amount of difference when I was asked to do it.

“I think it suited me because I’m a slightly more attacking batsman, I hit quite a lot of boundaries, so it is a role I’m very happy to do.”

Then there is the mental challenge of playing Test cricket, one which Alastair Cook, Westley’s team-mate at Essex, has mastered during an 11-year international career that has seen him become England’s all-time leading runscorer.

“Everyone can see the intensity Test cricket brings just from watching it,” said Westley. “I think that’s one of the big things that is highlighted, and Cooky has mentioned this, is the media scrutiny. That’s a huge step up. That’s something that’s made clear when working with the England Lions. Once you’re in the public eye everything is amplified a lot more.

“But I’ve scored runs with Cooky at the other end so he knows what I’m about as a player. You know how level headed he is as a person and whatever standard you’re playing I think you just have to approach it the same way.”