The former England batter Gary Ballance has introduced his retirement from cricket, 4 months after leaving Yorkshire following the racism scandal involving Azeem Rafiq.
Yorkshire launched Ballance from his contract in December after the 33-year-old Zimbabwe-born participant spent a 12 months on the sidelines to cope with psychological well being points.
Ballance admitted in 2021 to utilizing racist language in opposition to former teammate Rafiq, whose allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire rocked English cricket.
He additionally apologised in individual to Rafiq.
Ballance signed a two-year deal to play for Zimbabwe final 12 months.
“After much thought, I have decided to retire from all forms of professional cricket with immediate effect,” Ballance stated in a press release launched by the Professional Cricketers’ Association on Wednesday.
“I had hoped my move to Zimbabwe would provide me with a new-found happiness for the game and I will always be thankful to Zimbabwe Cricket for providing me with an opportunity to return to international cricket and welcoming me into their team.
“However, I’ve reached the stage the place I not have the will to dedicate myself to the rigours {of professional} sport and this could do Zimbabwe Cricket and the sport itself a disservice, ought to I keep on.”
Ballance played 23 Tests and 16 ODIs for England with his last coming in 2017. He scored a century in his only Test appearance for Zimbabwe, making 137 not out against the West Indies in February, and also featured in five ODIs and one T20.
He additionally bows out with a formidable first-class document, scoring over 12,000 runs at a mean of 47.74 and scoring 42 centuries. He made 4697 List A runs and 1952 in T20 cricket.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
