Former England international Gary Ballance retires from cricket

The 33-year-old signed a two-year deal to play for Zimbabwe in 2022 after leaving Yorkshire and featured in one Test, five ODIs and one T20I before hanging up his bat

Former England international Gary Ballance has retired from all forms of cricket.

The 33-year-old top-order batter made 23 Test appearances for England between January 2014 and July 2017, scoring 1,498 runs at 37.45, including four centuries and seven half-centuries. He also played 16 ODIs, scoring 297 runs.

The left-hander spent the majority of his career with Yorkshire, winning the County Championship in 2014 and 2015 and scoring over 13,000 runs in nearly 300 appearances across all formats.

He was embroiled in the racism scandal at the club and in November 2021, he admitted to using racist language towards Azeem Rafiq. He later accepted a charge of bringing the game into disrepute.

Ballance was released by Yorkshire at the back end of 2022, signing a two-year deal to represent Zimbabwe.

^{Ballance played international cricket for both England and Zimbabwe [Clive Rose/Getty Images]}

^{Ballance (right) won two County Championships with Yorkshire [Sarah Ansell/Getty Images]}

He made one Test appearance for Zimbabwe, scoring a century against West Indies, as well as featuring in five ODIs and one T20I. His final outing came in an ODI against the Netherlands in Harare in March.

In a statement, Ballance said: "After much thought, I have decided to retire from all forms of professional cricket with immediate effect.

"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 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, should I carry on. I wish them every success going forward.

"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.

"I want to thank all of my clubs, coaches, support staff, teammates and supporters for their guidance and encouragement over my career, it has been a privilege.

"It is now time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life."