Ballance retires from all cricket

Former England batter Gary Ballance retired from all cricket, just two months after he switched allegiance and made his test debut for Zimbabwe in a bid to revive his career.

Ballance left English county team Yorkshire in December after being involved in a racism scandal there, in which he accepted multiple charges, including that he had used racist language against teammate Azeem Rafiq.

Ballance hoped his move back to Zimbabwe — his country of birth — would give him “a newfound happiness for the game,” he said in a statement released through the Professional Cricketers’ Association of England and Wales announcing his retirement.

“However, I have reached the stage where I no longer have the desire to dedicate myself to the rigors of professional sport and this would do Zimbabwe Cricket and the game itself a disservice, should I carry on,” the 33-year-old Ballance said.