Ballance on the road to recovery, reveals Moxon

FOR the first time in several months, the future looks a lot brighter and more encouraging for Yorkshire’s former skipper and ex-England batsman Gary Ballance, who has been unable to play this summer due to anxiety and stress.

- Guy Williams

Ballance was taken ill in late April and then in early May with a virus, and while he tested twice negatively for Covid-19, the left hander, capped 23 times by England, hasn’t been fit enough to appear in any of Yorkshire’s games in the Bob Willis Trophy or the T20 Vitality Blast.

Now, though, much to Yorkshire’s and Ballance’s relief, the 30-yearold’s health has begun to improve and he and the county can look forward to him playing a full part again next season.

The absence of Ballance, Yorkshire’s top run scorer in the Championship in 2017, 2018 and 2019, from red and white-ball cricket in this curtailed season, has been a huge blow because the left hander has been so consistent. He has struck 11 first class hundreds in the last three summers in which he played.

As Yorkshire began this week their preparation to put in place strength and conditioning sessions for the players when they return to Headingley in mid-November, Martyn Moxon, director of cricket, was delighted to reveal Ballance’s progress.