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Gary Simon Ballance (born 22 November 1989) is an English-Zimbabwean former
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
er who represented
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
from 2013 to 2017 and also represented
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
internationally in 2023. He is a left-handed batsman and a
leg break Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins from ...
bowler, who last played for
Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is a professional Cricket club based in Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the County Championship, the top tier of English First-class cricket. Nicknamed "Vikings". Yorkshire also competes in T20 Blast, O ...
. He was born in
Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...
,
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
. He is known for his style of striking deep in the crease. He qualified to play for England through residency and getting a British passport. He had a promising start to his Test career. In his first ten Test matches, he scored 1017 runs in 17 innings at an average of 67.93, putting him behind only
Sir Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...
in the list of batsmen with both 1000+ test runs and an average of above 60. On 25 April 2015, Ballance became the third fastest England Test cricketer to reach 1,000 runs, a feat which he achieved during the second Test against West Indies. However, his test career failed to take off with inconsistent performances. His next 13 matches yielded two half-centuries and an aggregate of 481 runs at an average of 19.04, a sharp contrast to his first set of 10 test appearances. Ballance first played in the
Second XI Championship The Second XI Championship is a season-long cricket competition in England that is competed for by the reserve teams of those county cricket clubs that have first-class status. The competition started in 1959 and has been contested annually eve ...
in 2006, having made five appearances for
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
in the 2006 Under-19 World Cup, in which the team finished in sixth place. In the final match for the team, Ballance scored a half-century, gaining notice from
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
and earned the chance to sign for the team in 2006. He played his first limited overs match two weeks later, having performed in the Derbyshire Second XI. At the end of the 2007 season, Ballance left Derbyshire to sign academy terms with Yorkshire. He made his England debut on 3 September 2013 in an ODI against Ireland. In November 2014, he won the ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year during the 2014 ICC Awards. Ballance was named a Cricketer of the Year in the 2015 edition of the
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...
. Following an investigation into racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Ballance released a statement admitting that he was one of the players who had used racial slurs against fellow player
Azeem Rafiq Azeem Rafiq (; born 27 February 1991) is an English cricketer who played professionally in England for Yorkshire County Cricket Club. A right-arm off-spin bowler, Rafiq played for the county between 2008 and 2014 and 2016 and 2018, making his sen ...
. Following this announcement, he was suspended from selection by the
England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...
(ECB). In 2022 it was confirmed that, having served a period of ineligibility, Ballance was eligible for selection by Zimbabwe, and had agreed a contract to do so from 2022 onwards before retiring in 2023.


Early and personal life

Ballance was born and raised in Zimbabwe, where his parents were tobacco farmers. He grew and raised up in a village near Mutare, on the border of
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
. The tobacco farm was later confiscated by the
Government of Zimbabwe The politics of Zimbabwe occurs in a society deeply divided along lines of race, ethnicity, gender and geography. The ZANU–PF party has historically been dominant in Zimbabwe politics. The party, which was led by Robert Mugabe from 1980 to 20 ...
which was under the helm of president
Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...
. He was sent to boarding school at the age of five. He had also occasionally played field hockey, tennis and rugby union for Zimbabwe in age group categories. However, he decided to change his mind at the age of 13 that his future would be on playing cricket. It is believed that Ballance has British roots through his grandparents with one of them having flown to the RAF during the
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He is also distantly related to John Timms, a cricketer who played for
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northa ...
from 1925 to 1949. He attended
Springvale House Springvale House Preparatory School (commonly known as Springvale or Springvale House) is an independent, preparatory, boarding and day school in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe that was established in 1952. The school shares facilities with Peterh ...
and
Peterhouse Boys' School Peterhouse Boys' School (or Peterhouse) is an independent, boarding high school for boys in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe. The school was founded by Fred Snell in 1955 and is located on an estate that is shared with Calderwood Park, a conservati ...
. After representing Zimbabwe in cricket at various age levels, he moved to England in 2006. He attended
Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...
for two years, where he was in the same team as Sam Northeast. Playing for Harrow, he scored a century against
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
at Lord's. Ballance is related to former Zimbabwean cricket captain David Houghton through his father, who is a cousin of David's wife. In 2014, Ballance was reportedly seen taking his shirt off during a night out in Nottingham
nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
as he was in celebration mode in an inebriated state enjoying and relieving about the memories of his own bowling when he eventually bowled a maiden over in the first test against India which ended in a draw. Ballance was also quoted as saying he was "absolutely fucked" and that he told fans in Pandora's Box "I'm not a cricketer tonight. I'm a drunken bellend." He revealed that his captain Cook had asked whether he was interested in bowling an over and Ballance accepted the captain's offer and delivered an over. Ballance married his wife Alex in December 2018. His wife Alex is a speech and language therapist who hails from Middlesbrough. Ballance is colour blind and consequently struggles to see a pink ball when batting.


Domestic career

He obtained a sports scholarship in 2006 to Harrow and then moved to Derbyshire as an overseas player where he shared dressing room with his relative Dave Houghton, a fact which he barely knew at that time. Ballance signed for Derbyshire for the 2006 season, playing exclusively in their second XI. He made his List A debut for Derbyshire against West Indies A on 6 August 2006 during a tour match and scored a fluent 48 which helped Derbyshire to win the match by 30 runs. At the end of that season it was noted in Wisden that he was seen as a ''"real prospect"''. His 2007 season was also entirely spent in the Derbyshire second XI, with Ballance finishing as the side's leading runscorer with 390 in 6 innings, including two centuries. His talent was immediately spotted by
Geoffrey Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...
who recommended him and his parents to join Yorkshire. He joined the Yorkshire Academy in 2008 at the end of the 2007 season as an overseas player after a brief spell at Derbyshire which lasted for two seasons and he eventually attended the
Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univer ...
where he studied only five lectures of a sports course, having dropped out after a year or so. It was his academy contract with Yorkshire which allowed him to be eligible to begin a university course at the Leeds Metropolitan University. He made his first-class debut for Yorkshire against
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
during the
2008 English cricket season The 2008 English cricket season was the 109th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. Four regular tournaments were played: The LV County Championship ( first-class), Friends Provident Trophy ( 50 Over), NatWest Pro4 ...
at the
St Lawrence Ground The St Lawrence Ground is a cricket ground in Canterbury, Kent. It is the home ground of Kent County Cricket Club and since 2013 has been known as The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, due to commercial sponsorship. It is one of the oldest grounds o ...
,
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
, on 11 July 2008. He teamed up with Joe Root at Yorkshire since his move to the club in 2008 and has since maintained a close bond with the latter. He made his T20 debut for Yorkshire against
Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...
on 4 July 2010 during the
2010 Friends Provident T20 The 2010 Friends Provident t20 tournament was the eighth edition of what would later become the T20 Blast, England's premier domestic Twenty20 cricket competition. The competition ran from 1 June 2010 until the finals day at The Rose Bowl on 1 ...
. He also spent his English county offseason time in Zimbabwe playing for Mid West Rhinos at the Logan Cup where he gained his first taste of captaincy. He played in the
2010–11 Logan Cup The 2010–11 Logan Cup was a first-class cricket competition held in Zimbabwe from 6 September 2010 to 3 April 2011. The tournament was won by the Matabeleland Tuskers, who defeated the Mountaineers by 18 runs in the final. During the group stage ...
and
2011–12 Logan Cup The 2011–12 Logan Cup was a first-class cricket competition held in Zimbabwe from 26 September 2011 to 16 February 2012. The tournament was won by the Matabeleland Tuskers, who claimed their second consecutive title, becoming the first team to wi ...
before returning to England again. He broke into the Yorkshire first team in 2011 and since then he became a regular member for the club. His consistent performances led him to be in contention to be selected for England Lions squad for a limited-overs tour of Australia in February 2013, where Ballance made three half-centuries despite England Lions being on the receiving end on every tour match. He pushed his case for selection into England senior national team after hammering centuries for England Lions against Australia and Bangladesh A during the 2013 season. He compiled record 1251 runs at the 2013 County Championship which helped him to receive maiden test call-up with England for the 2013=2014 Ashes. He was very much hyped among English cricketing fraternity in as early 2013 including former English captain
Michael Vaughan Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England cricket captain, England captain for the England test team, test team from 2003 to 2008 ...
who batted for Ballance to be in the mix for England test squad following his rich vein of form for Yorkshire during the 2013 County Championship. Ballance himself grew up watching Michael Vaughan's batting whose batting style and technique he admired from early age. He also considers
Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...
as his icon. He missed most of the county matches for Yorkshire during the 2018 English cricket season owing to personal reasons. He made the most of the missed opportunities for Yorkshire during the 2019 County Championship piling up truckload and bulk of runs with an aggregate of 975 runs including five centuries and his performances suggested a possible international recall would be on the cards, but it did not materialise. During the 2019 County Championship season, he set a record by becoming the first Yorkshire batsman to have scored hundreds in five successive Yorkshire matches. Ballance missed the entire 2020 domestic season, after its belated post-pandemic commencement, because of a series of reasons, including suffering from anxiety early in the season, followed by his wife testing positive for COVID-19. In September 2021, he agreed for a three-year extension of his contract with the Yorkshire club prior to the outbreak of the Azeem Rafiq racism saga. He subsequently missed the start of the 2021 season after a concussion in nets practice. Following an investigation into racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, it was announced on 3 November 2021 that Ballance was the cricketer who repeatedly made racial slurs to fellow player
Azeem Rafiq Azeem Rafiq (; born 27 February 1991) is an English cricketer who played professionally in England for Yorkshire County Cricket Club. A right-arm off-spin bowler, Rafiq played for the county between 2008 and 2014 and 2016 and 2018, making his sen ...
. Following this announcement, he was suspended from selection to play for England. Ballance issued a statement in explanation. He subsequently apologised to Rafiq for the language he used, but he also criticized the journalists and media for "the misleading and selective nature of the reporting". Ballance did not appear for Yorkshire's first team in 2022 but remained on the club's staff. In December 2022, Ballance was released from his contract with Yorkshire two years early, under the condition that he does not play for a different County Championship side in 2023. He had not played first team cricket for Yorkshire since the scandal became public.


International career


Debut for Zimbabwe Under-19

He played for Zimbabwe national U-19 side during the 2006 U19 Cricket World Cup at the age of 16 while still being enrolled as a schoolboy at the Peterhouse Boys School in Marondera. He starred in famous upset win for Zimababwe against England both with the bat and ball as Zimbabwe won the thriller by two wickets after bowling out England for 172. Ballance was the chief destroyer of England's innings as he was the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe with 3/21 in four overs and he propelled Zimbabwe home with the bat as well top-scoring with 47 eventually helping his side to win the tightly fought contest by two wickets and for his all-round prowess he was awarded the player of the match. He would eventually go on to represent England internationally.


Debut for England

Following impressive performances for Yorkshire and the England Lions, Gary Ballance debuted for
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
against
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, on 3 September 2013 but failed to impress with the bat after getting caught behind without having scored a run.


2013–14 Ashes series

Ballance was selected for the England squad for the
2013–14 Ashes series The 2013–14 Ashes (named Commonwealth Bank Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a Test cricket series between England and Australia. The five venues for the series were the Brisbane Cricket Ground, the Adelaide Oval, the WACA Ground, th ...
. He was selected to play in the 5th Test ahead of fellow
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
teammate
Joe Root Joseph Edward Root, (born 30 December 1990) is an English international cricketer, who plays for the England cricket team, English cricket team and formerly captained the Test team. He also represents Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire ...
. He became the 659th player to play for England and was handed his cap by captain
Alastair Cook Sir Alastair Nathan Cook (born 25 December 1984) is an English former cricketer and former captain (cricket), captain of the England Test Cricket, Test and One-Day International, ODI teams. He is considered one of the greatest opening batsmen ...
. He was one of three players, the others being Scott Borthwick and
Boyd Rankin William Boyd Rankin (born 5 July 1984) is a Northern Irish former cricketer who played international cricket for Ireland, and briefly also played for England. He is a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He is the brother of fellow cricketer David Ran ...
, to make their debuts in the 5th Test. He was sought as the best possible option to be the frontrunner to fill the No.6 batting position for England, a position which was a problematic concern for England at the time. In the first innings he made 18 runs after coming in with the score at 17/4 and helped England to 155 all out.
Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. The programme is available on BB ...
commentator
Geoffrey Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...
acknowledged that Ballance was incredibly unlucky to be dismissed, receiving a corker that pitched in the footmarks. In the second innings he made 7 runs finishing the series with 25 runs. Ballance's next call-up was against Australia during the England tour of Australia. In the 1st ODI, at the MCG, Ballance top scored for England, making 79 runs off 96 balls. However this was not enough to help England win as Australia cruised to a 6 wicket win. Ballance kept his place for the 2nd ODI however he managed only 9 runs off 19 balls before being stumped by
Brad Haddin Bradley James Haddin (born 23 October 1977), is an Australian former cricketer, vice-captain and coach who represented Australia national cricket team, Australia in all three forms of international cricket. He played domestically for New South ...
. In the 3rd ODI Ballance batted at number 4 and made 26 runs off 42 balls. He retained his place for the 4th ODI and made 18 runs off 30 balls before being caught. Ballance was left out of the 5th ODI and was replaced by
Joe Root Joseph Edward Root, (born 30 December 1990) is an English international cricketer, who plays for the England cricket team, English cricket team and formerly captained the Test team. He also represents Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire ...
.


2014 Sri Lanka series

Ballance featured in the 1st ODI against
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
, he top scored with 64 runs in England's win. In the 2nd ODI he only made 5 runs in England's 99 run innings. He played in the 3rd ODI however he was not needed in England's 10 wicket win. Ballance was included in the squad for both of the test matches against Sri Lanka, batting at number three as a replacement for
Jonathan Trott Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott (born 22 April 1981) is a South African-born English former professional cricketer who played international cricket for the England cricket team and is the current head coach of the Afghanistan cricket team. Domestical ...
who had stepped away from cricket during the 2013–14 Ashes. In the first test at Lord's, he made 27 runs in the first innings before reaching his maiden Test hundred in just his second Test match in the second innings, ending not out on 104. He was one of 4 centurions in the series for England, the others being
Moeen Ali Moeen Munir Ali (born 18 June 1987) is an English cricketer, who was formerly vice-captain of England in limited overs cricket. He played for England cricket team between 2014 and 2024. In domestic cricket he represents Warwickshire, having p ...
, Sam Robson and
Joe Root Joseph Edward Root, (born 30 December 1990) is an English international cricketer, who plays for the England cricket team, English cricket team and formerly captained the Test team. He also represents Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire ...
, who made a double hundred. Ballance had mixed fortunes in the second test, scoring 74 in the first innings before being dismissed for a golden duck in the second, finishing the series with 205 runs.


2014 India series

In the first test against India, Ballance continued his good form with the bat by making 71 in the first innings as the match ended in a draw. Ballance hit his second Test hundred on 18 July 2014 against India. He scored 110 before being caught behind off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, bringing England back into the match after struggling on 113/4. Ballance became only the third England player to score hundreds in his first two Lord's Tests, after
Andrew Strauss Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club, Middl ...
and
Jonathan Trott Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott (born 22 April 1981) is a South African-born English former professional cricketer who played international cricket for the England cricket team and is the current head coach of the Afghanistan cricket team. Domestical ...
. Ballance scored an impressive 156 in the first innings of the third test but was unfortunate to be given out through a poor decision by the umpire. He was again unlucky when, on 38 in the second innings, he was given out caught when the ball only touched his trouser. In the fourth match of the series he was only required to bat once, making 37 as England won to go 2-1 up in the series. He made 64 in the final test to help England win the game and the series 3–1. Overall, Ballance made 503 runs at an average of 71.85 to set up the test series for England. In the one day series against India Ballance played only in the fourth ODI where he made seven runs. He redeemed himself as an ideal go-to-man for England's no 3 spot at test level and arguably a perfect successor for
Jonathan Trott Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott (born 22 April 1981) is a South African-born English former professional cricketer who played international cricket for the England cricket team and is the current head coach of the Afghanistan cricket team. Domestical ...
during the career defining series against India.


2015 World Cup

In December 2015, he was included in the England squad for the 2015 Cricket World Cup as a surprise package as he was recalled despite modest returns in ODI cricket at that time averaging just over 26 in 12 ODI matches. Prior to his recall into the England ODI side for the 2015 World Cup, he was left out of the team for their s even match ODI series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka which was played in 2014. However, he endured a disastrous World Cup campaign and his shuffling back-foot technique during the tournament was exposed. After recovering from injury Ballance played in England's opening game of the World Cup against Australia, where he was dismissed for ten. He was out for ten again as England slumped to an eight wicket defeat against New Zealand. He again only made ten against Scotland, leading to suggestions he would be dropped from the side for the next game against Sri Lanka. However, he kept his place and was dismissed for six as England lost their third game of the tournament. Ballance was then dropped from the side and played no further part in the tournament as England were eliminated at the Group stage. He, along with James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and James Tredwell were dropped to focus on test cricket.


2015 West Indies and New Zealand

Ballance continued in his role as No.3 batsman during England's tour of the West Indies. In the first Test of the three-Test series, he made ten runs in the first innings and then a century in the second innings. In addition to scoring the winning runs in the second Test, he became the third fastest England cricketer to reach 1,000 runs for his career, behind
Herbert Sutcliffe Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English Professionalism#Sports, professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire and England national cricket team, England as an opening batsman. A ...
and
Len Hutton Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an Batting order (cricket)#Opening batsmen, opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England national cricket team ...
. In the third Test he was less prolific, making scores of 18 and 23 as England suffered two batting collapses to lose the game by five wickets and draw the series 1-1. Ballance endured a difficult series against New Zealand. He made one in England first innings of the first Test and was then dismissed for a duck in the second innings. Despite this, England went on to win the game by 124 runs. His problems continued in the next Test as he was dismissed for 29 in England's first innings. In the second innings he was dismissed for six as England lost the game by 199 runs to draw the series 1-1.


2015 Ashes series

In the first Ashes Test, Ballance scored 60 in the first innings, but scored a duck in the second innings, as England secured a comfortable opening win by 169 runs. In the second Test, Ballance was out for 23 in England's first innings as they were dismissed for 312. In England's second innings he was dismissed for just 14 as England were bowled out for just 103 and suffered a humiliating 405 run defeat. Following the game, Ballance was dropped in favour of Jonny Bairstow and played no further part in the series. England went on to win the series 3–2.


2016 and 2017

Ballance was recalled due to Nick Compton's poor form, and
James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...
being forced into retirement. Ballance returned to the side for the Test series against Pakistan and made six in England first innings. He made 43 in their second innings as England lost the opening match by 75 runs. In the second Test he only batted once, making 23 as England went on to secure a 330 run victory to level the series at 1-1. He made 70 in the first innings of the third Test, and made 23 in the second innings as England turned around the match to win 141 runs after a strong bowling display in the second innings. Ballance made eight in England's first innings of the final Test, as England were dismissed for 328. England went on to lose the game by 10 wickets and draw the series 1-1, with Ballance making 17 in England's second innings. In the first Test against Bangladesh, Ballance could only manage scores of 1 and 9, although England did enough to win the game by 21 runs. In the second Test, Balance managed just 9 in England's total of 244, and again failed in the second innings, this time making 5 as England lost the match by 108 runs and drew the series 1-1. On 6 July 2017, Ballance was recalled to play in the first test against South Africa at Lord's after his form recovered for Yorkshire, and was selected under Joe Root's recommendation. Ballance played the first two tests before a broken thumb ruled him out of the next two matches. He proved his mettle and justified his selection into test squad after having scored 815 runs and with an average over 101.87 for Yorkshire during the 2017 summer.


Debut for Zimbabwe and return to international cricket

In December 2022, he signed a two-year deal with Zimbabwe Cricket which would make him eligible for national selections and will also play in domestic level competitions in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket confirmed that Ballance had transferred allegiance following a period of ineligibility, and would represent Zimbabwe from 2022 onwards. Ballance's Zimbabwe senior debut was against a touring
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
team in January 2023. He is set to make his full fledged T20I debut representing Zimbabwe as he had never played a T20 International match in England colours. The series against Ireland was a mark of his return to international cricket since the infamous Yorkshire racism scandal. He made his T20I debut on 12 January, and played his first ODI in Zimbabwe colours on 18 January. On 4 February 2023, Ballance played his first Test match for Zimbabwe, against the West Indies in
Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...
, after previously playing 23 Tests for England, becoming the 17th cricketer to represent two international teams in Tests. He scored a century in the match, making him the second person to score a Test match century for two different countries, after
Kepler Wessels Kepler Christoffel Wessels (born 14 September 1957) is a South African-Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer who captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia. Since retiring he has been a lawn bowls competitor. He ...
.


Retirement

In April 2023, Ballance retired from all forms of professional cricket.


See also

*
List of cricketers who have played for two international teams As of April 2024, 17 male players have played Test cricket for two nations, 16 have played One Day International (ODI) cricket for two teams, and 19 have played Twenty20 International (T20I) matches for two teams, and five have played for two tea ...


References


External links

*
Gary Ballance
's profile page on Wisden {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballance, Gary 1989 births Living people Yorkshire cricket captains English cricketers England Test cricketers England One Day International cricketers Zimbabwean cricketers Zimbabwe Test cricketers Zimbabwe One Day International cricketers Zimbabwe Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Zimbabwean sportsmen Derbyshire cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Mid West Rhinos cricketers Cricketers from Harare Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup Alumni of Peterhouse Boys' School People educated at Harrow School Zimbabwean people of British descent Wisden Cricketers of the Year White Zimbabwean sportspeople Zimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom Dual international cricketers