Ex-England batter Gary Ballance to make Test debut for Zimbabwe against Windies
Ex-England batter Gary Ballance to make Test debut for Zimbabwe against WI
Former England batter Gary Ballance will be making a return to the Test side after almost six years, but this time for Zimbabwe - his birth country, during the first of the two-match Test series against Windies, starting on Saturday, February 4th in Bulawayo. In December last year, Ballance got released from Yorkshire following getting involved in a controversy for using racial slur against his former team-mate Azeem Rafiq. After his contract got terminated, the former English batter decided to return to his home country, who welcomed him with open arms by giving him a two-year contract.
After representing England in 23 Tests from 2014 to 2017that included four hundreds at an average of 37.45, Ballance will be back wearing the whites at the Queens Sports Club. Earlier this month, he made his white-ball debut for Zimbabwe during the home series against Ireland – where scored 75 runs across two ODIs and 30 in the one T20I played.
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Meanwhile, the regular captain Sean Williams will miss the Test series as he’s recovering from a fractured finger. In his absence, Craig Ervine, who is playing his first Test in three years, will be leading the side.Not only this, the hosts will also be without star all-rounder Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl due to their franchise commitments, whereas, fast bowlers Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani are also out injured.
This means several new faces are part of the squadincluding Tafadzwa Tsiga, Joylord Gumbie, Kudzai Maunze and Tanunurwa Makoni – all of who got rewarded for their performances in the Logan Cup.
The first Test against the Windies in Bulawayo will mark Zimbabwe's return to Test cricket after a gap of 18 months.
Here’s Zimbabwe 16-man squad for Windies Test –
Gary Ballance, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Tanaka Chivanga, Craig Ervine (capt), Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Innocent Kaia, Tanunurwa Makoni, Wellington Masakadza, Kudzai Maunze, Brandon Mavuta, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano, Tafadzwa Tsiga
