Former England batter Gary Ballance retires from cricket with immediate effect

Former England and Yorkshire batter Gary Ballance has announced his retirement at the age of 33 after falling out of love with cricket.

The Harare-born Ballance, who played 23 Tests and 16 ODIs for England between 2013 and 2017, recently attempted to resurrect his international career with his native Zimbabwe, having left Yorkshire in December following his part in the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.

In January, Ballance pleaded guilty to five charges levelled against him by the Cricket Discipline Commission, including the use of racist language, and apologised ‘unreservedly’ to Rafiq.

Soon after, he played a T20 match and the first of five ODIs for Zimbabwe, and in February marked his return to Test cricket with an unbeaten 137 as Zimbabwe drew with West Indies in Bulawayo – only to miss the second and final match of the series because of a migraine. Now, he has called it a day altogether.

‘I had hoped my move to Zimbabwe would provide me with a new-found happiness for the game’ he said. 

Former England batter Gary Ballance (pictured) has retired from cricket with immediate effect

The news comes just three months after he resumed his international career with Zimbabwe

Ballance, 33, left Yorkshire last year amid damaging accusations in the club’s racism scandal

‘However, I have reached the stage where I no longer have the desire to dedicate myself to the rigours of professional sport, and this would do Zimbabwe Cricket and the game itself a disservice.

‘I have been fortunate to have some incredibly memorable moments in cricket, winning county championships with Yorkshire, and gaining the ultimate honour of representing England and Zimbabwe. It is now time for me to move on to the next chapter in my life.’

Ballance’s century in Bulawayo followed four for England, with a best of 156 against India at Southampton in 2014. 

In all, he made more than 12,000 first-class runs at an impressive average of 47, with 42 hundreds.