Star England batter gets released from Yorkshire Contract, all set to play for Zimbabwe
Gary Ballance had already played for Zimbabwe at the Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2006.
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Dec 9, 2022 7:16 pm
Gary Ballance (Image Source: Twitter)
On 9 December 2022, Gary Ballance got released from his Yorkshire contract. However, the whole cricket fraternity became surprised when Zimbabwe Cricket Board announced that this star batter from England will now represent their country. They shared a tweet with the caption: “BREAKING NEWS: Gary Ballance set to play for Zimbabwe after agreeing contract.”
Speaking about Gary Ballance, the past few years haven’t gone well for the batter after his racist comments on Azeem Rafiq. All the investigations derailed him a lot. He was guilty of it and therefore, he did not feel the same way when playing for Yorkshire since that incident.
Here is the shared tweet:
BREAKING NEWS: Gary Ballance set to play for Zimbabwe after agreeing contract
Gary Ballance represented England in 39 matches across two formats
Speaking about this batter, Director of Cricket Hamilton Masakadza said: “We are elated to have Gary, an immensely talented and experienced cricketer, back home where it all started for him. He is a great addition to our domestic and international set-up and we are looking forward to him making a massive difference for us.”
He also added the player himself was excited to get the opportunity to represent Zimbabwe. “I’m thrilled to be joining Zimbabwe Cricket and can’t wait to start work with some great coaches and talented players. The opportunity to represent Zimbabwe has given me a new-found passion and excitement for the game. I have kept in touch with a number of people within Zimbabwe cricket over the years and it has been great to watch their recent progress especially,” Ballance said.
Meanwhile, Gary Ballance already represented Zimbabwe at the Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2006 before moving abroad. Speaking about his international career for England, Ballance played 23 Test matches where he scored 1498 runs, at an average of 37.45. He also managed four hundred and seven fifties. Along with that, he also represented England in 16 ODIs. In those matches, Gary Ballance scored 297 runs, at an average of 21.21. He managed only two fifties in his ODI career for England.
