Gary Ballance - Zimbabwe - Batsman

After representing Zimbabwe at the 2006 Under-19 World Cup, Gary Ballance switched to England in pursuit of better opportunities. He acquired a scholarship at Harrow, the same year and made many appearances for Derbyshire because of his uncle, David Houghton's guidance. He made heads turn with a blistering knock of 73 in a Pro40 match, while still aged 16.

Ballance made his county debut in 2008 but failed to command a regular place in the side. It turned out to be a memorable season for the Zimbabwe-born cricketer on individual grounds. He tallied 717 runs at 42.17 in the Championship and 331 runs at 55.16 in the Clydesdale Bank 40 and signed on for another two years with Yorkshire.

The year 2012 saw Ballance come off age as he amassed 613 Championship runs. 'Gazza' scored an unbeaten 121 which allowed Yorkshire to scale a mammoth target of 400 in 100 overs - Yorkshire's second biggest successful run chase - evoked reverence and admiration.

Going from strength-to-strength, Ballance's avalanche of runs in the CB40s and in the Champions League T20 pressed his case for a berth in England Lions squad for a limited overs tour of Australia in early 2013.

His ODI debut against Ireland was far from auspicious as he fell for nought. Despite his failure, Ballance eked out a slot in the 2013-14 Ashes series in Australia and eventually went on to make his Test debut in the final Test in Sydney. He also featured in the ODI series that followed.

The selectors kept faith in Ballance even though he failed in his first Test. They picked him for the two Test series against Sri Lanka, he didn't disappoint as he scored his maiden Test ton at Lord's and in only his second game. Ballance then followed that up with superb performances against India, scoring 503 runs in the Test series that included two hundreds. However, he did not get a permanent spot in the ODI side and was even overlooked for the seven-match ODI series in Sri Lanka. But, once skipper Alastair Cook was axed from the ODI side, Ballance was an automatic pick for the tri-series in Australia and for the 2015 World Cup.


by Deivarayan Muthu and Akshay Maanay
As of January 2015