Ballance laid low by mental health

ON the day Zak Crawley developed his maiden Test hundred into a dashing double in Southampton, Yorkshire announced that England’s most successful No 3 of the modern era remains unavailable due to ‘anxiety and stress’.

Gary Ballance is yet to feature during this abbreviated county season and is struggling to reach the fitness levels required for professional cricket following a four-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 30-year-old is understood to have felt acute anxiety during the isolation period and also battled against a viral infection that left him with a lack of energy.

Yorkshire’s medical team feared it was coronavirus but Ballance subsequently returned two negative Covid-19 tests.

‘Gary is currently managing some heightened feelings of anxiety and stress following a long period of isolation due to the Covid-19 lockdown, his own recent

viral illness and other personal factors,’ read a club statement.

‘The post-viral symptoms have affected his physical preparation for this shortened cricket season. He is currently unavailable for selection and we are unable to put any timescales on his return to playing at this time.’

It is not the first time that Ballance, who has 23 Test caps, has missed matches due to stressrelated illness. Two years ago, he was given indefinite leave and relinquished the captaincy when similar symptoms left him struggling to sleep. That followed an international recall the previous winter in which he did not make an appearance in the 2017-18 Ashes and was then axed for the tour of New Zealand.

His statistics domestically have remained of the highest standard, however — last summer, he topscored for Yorkshire in both the County Championship and Royal London Cup. His Test average of 37.45 is marginally better than that of Nasser Hussain and less than a quarter of a run behind that of Michael Atherton.

Ballance enjoyed a stellar start in the Test arena, charging to 1,000 runs in just 17 innings, placing him third amongst England batsmen. At first-wicket down, he averaged 46.44. The last England number three with a superior return was David Gower.

Since his debut, England have tried a dozen others in the position and yet Crawley’s hundred was only his fourth in a combined 121 innings. Ballance hit four in 29.

He continues to net ahead of the Twenty20 Blast season, which starts on Thursday.