Former England batter Gary Ballance in a bid to resurrect his international career signed on with his country of birth Zimbabwe, for a two-year deal. Ballance, who hasn’t played Test cricket for England since 2017, has been playing County cricket since but with the age on his side, he decided to give international cricket another shot. Ballance played in a T20I and a couple of ODIs at the start of the year against Ireland before returning to Test cricket as Zimbabwe took on West Indies in the first of the two matches in Bulawayo.
Ballance was named in the line-up for the Craig Ervine-led side and the 33-year-old became the 16th cricketer to play Test cricket for two countries and the 10th for England and the second (after John Traicos) to do the same. Did you know that four out of the 16 cricketers have played for India and another country? Yes, four cricketers have played for India as well as another nation, three out of them played for Pakistan after partition while one played for England and then India.
Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi (commonly known as Nawab Pataudi Sr.) played for England in 1932 and 1934 before playing for the country of his origin. Pataudi Sr played three Tests for England before captaining India in three matches in the longest format in 1946.
Gul Mohammad, a former cricketer and administrator, played for India from 1946 to 1952 before taking Pakistan citizenship. Mohammad played eight out of 9 Test matches in his career for India, while playing the final one for Pakistan in 1955.
Abdul Hafeez Kardar, regarded as the father figure of Pakistan cricket, began his Test career for British India before the partition. A left-handed batter and left-arm orthodox spinner, Kardar played for India in three matches against England on the 1946 tour as Abdul Hafeez. After moving to Pakistan, he led the side too and played 23 more games in the longer format.
Amir Elahi, a medium pacer who became a leg-spinner later on in his career, played his only Test match for India on the 1947 tour of Australia in Sydney. After the partition, Elahi played five matches for Pakistan, all in India in 1952-53.
Cricketers who have played (men’s) Test cricket for two countries:
Billy Midwinter (Australia, England)
- William Lloyd Murdoch (Australia, England)
- JJ Ferris (Australia, England)
- Sammy Woods (Australia, England)
- Frank Hearne (England, South Africa)
- Albert Trott (Australia, England)
- Frank Mitchell (England, South Africa)
- Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi (England, India)
- Gul Mohammad (India, Pakistan)
- Abdul Hafeez Kardar (India, Pakistan)
- Amir Elahi (India, Pakistan)
- Sammy Guillen (West Indies, New Zealand)
- John Traicos (South Africa, Zimbabwe)
- Kepler Wessels (Australia, South Africa)
- Boyd Rankin (England, Ireland)
- Gary Ballance (England, Zimbabwe)*
In 42 innings for England previously, Ballance aggregated 1498 runs at an average of 37.45 smashing four centuries and seven half-centuries. The left-hander will hope for a much better turn for Zimbabwe. The first day of the Test remained rain-hit as only 51 overs of play could be possible. West Indies openers skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul got their side unscathed through to the stumps on Day 1 on the score of 112/0. The hosts will hope to get some early breakthroughs on the second day.
