Gary Ballance has played for both England and Zimbabwe. He is only the second player to have scored centuries for two Test countries. Ballance has joined the Zimbabwe coaching staff for the one-off Test against England.
The former England and Zimbabwe cricketer Gary Ballance is set to join the coaching staff of the Chevrons for their one-off Test match against England starting May 22.
England are set to host Zimbabwe for a historic test at Trent Bridge. This will be the first Test for the Chevrons on the English soil since 2003. “We are thrilled to welcome Gary Ballance to our coaching set-up for this historic tour,” Givemore Makoni, Zimbabwe Cricket’s managing director, said. “His deep understanding of English conditions, gained over years of playing at the highest level, will be a valuable asset to our team’s tactical preparation.”
Ballance played for England from the 2013/14 Ashes till 2017 before changing to Zimbabwe, the country of his birth. Ballance had a meteoric rise in Test cricket, having become the third-fastest England player to 1000 Test runs, taking only 17 innings to get to the mark.
Ballance played 23 Tests for England during this time. He then moved to play for Zimbabwe, for whom he played one Test, five ODIs and one T20I before retiring. He scored 137 on his Test debut and had become the second player to score centuries for two Test countries.
Zimbabwe had announced their squad for the Test against England. Sikandar Raza returned, while Clive Madande is also back, having recovered from an injury setback to take over the backup wicketkeeper role.
Zimbabwe squad for one-off Test against England:
Craig Ervine (c), Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Trevor Gwandu, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Newman Nyamhuri, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Nicholas Welch, Sean Williams
