Gary Ballance takes indefinite break from cricket

Gary Ballance, the Yorkshire captain, will take a break from the game because of “personal reasons,” the county confirmed on Friday, May 18.

The batsman missed the County Championship Division One loss to Surrey last week – Yorkshire were beaten by an innings and 17 runs – and at the time, Yorkshire had said Ballance was unwell.

However, after Ballance missed Friday’s one-day clash against Durham, the country issued a statement saying their captain would miss “several” matches of the tournament.

“Gary Ballance is set to miss several Royal London One-Day Cup fixtures after the club this week granted him some time away from the game due to personal reasons," Yorkshire said in the statement. "We ask that his privacy be respected during this time."

It’s been a tough period for Ballance. He was called up for the Ashes squad that toured Australia, but didn’t play a Test despite England’s struggles with the bat. He was subsequently dropped from the side that made the short trip across to New Zealand.

Ballance played the last of his 23 Tests in July 2017 in Nottingham against South Africa. He averages 37.45 with four centuries and seven half-centuries, but has managed a top score of just 34 in his last 11 Test innings.

So far in the County Championship, Ballance has scores of 0, 82, 11, 19 22 and 3.