London. Former England cricketer Gary Ballance has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
Balance had recently resumed his career with his country of origin, Zimbabwe. The 33-year-old Ballance scored four centuries in 23 Tests for England between 2014 and 2017. His record was impressive compared to many other debutants in that period.
Balance released a statement saying, “After much thought and consideration, I have decided to retire from all forms of professional cricket with immediate effect.” He further added, “I hoped that going to Zimbabwe would give me a new joy for the game which has been fulfilled. I will always be grateful to Zimbabwe Cricket for giving me the opportunity to return to international cricket and welcoming me to their team.”
He added, “I have been fortunate enough to have had some incredibly memorable moments in cricket. Winning the County Championship with Yorkshire and having the highest honor of representing Zimbabwe apart from England, I am proud of.”
“I would like to thank all my clubs, coaches, support staff, teammates and supporters for their guidance. Now is the time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life,” he added.
Balance is the second batsman in world cricket to score a century playing Test cricket for two different countries. Apart from him, former Australian batsman and South African captain Kepler Wessels was the first cricketer to achieve this feat. Ballance had decided to put his cricket career on hold again after scoring an unbeaten 64 in the ODI series against the Netherlands last month.
The 34-year-old Ballance scored 1,653 runs in 24 Tests at an average of 40.31 and a strike rate of 47.63. During this, he also scored 5 centuries and 7 half-centuries with a high score of 156. In 21 ODIs, he scored 454 runs at an average of 25.22 and a strike rate of 71.04. He scored 4 half-centuries in ODI cricket. He scored 30 runs in the only T20 International match.
Ballance made his Test debut for England in 2014. He scored 1,498 runs in 23 Tests from England at an average of 37.45 with the help of 4 centuries. He played his last Test for England in 2017. He made his ODI debut for England in the year 2013 and scored 297 runs in 16 matches. During this, he also scored two half-centuries. He played one Test, 5 ODIs and one T20 International for Zimbabwe.
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