Gary Ballance: Former England batsman set to make Zimbabwe debut in T20 series against Ireland

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Image caption, Gary Ballance had been with Yorkshire since 2008 until having his contract cancelled in December 2022

Former England batter Gary Ballance is set to return to international cricket after being named in Zimbabwe's squad for the upcoming Twenty20 international series against Ireland.

The left-hander played 23 Tests and 16 one-day internationals for England between 2014 and 2017.

Ballance, 33, signed a two-year deal with Zimbabwe last month, having been released early from his county contract with Yorkshire following a racism scandal.

He was born in Harare and represented Zimbabwe at the 2006 Under-19 World Cup before moving to England.

He is one of the four changes made to the 15-player squad that represented Zimbabwe at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's T20 World Cup in Australia at the end of last year.

Highly-rated all-rounder Sikandar Raza, who is in the running for the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year, will not feature in the series after Zimbabwe Cricket granted him permission to play franchise cricket in the inaugural International League T20 based in the United Arab Emirates.

Fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani misses out through injury, while wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva and batsman Milton Shumba have been dropped.

Ballance is one of four additions; the other new faces in the squad are Tadiwanashe Marumani, Innocent Kaia and Victor Nyauchi.

The T20 matches will be played on 12, 14 and 15 January with a three-match one-day series between the two sides to follow later in January.

Zimbabwe T20 squad: Craig Ervine (captain), Gary Ballance, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sean Williams.