Former England batter Gary Ballance became just the second cricketer to score Test tons for two different countries as he marked his Test debut for Zimbabwe with a fine unbeaten century against West Indies.

He follows Kepler Wessels - who featured for, and scored a 100 for both Australia and South Africa - in scoring a century for two countries. 

Ballance was born in Zimbabwe before moving to England as a schoolboy where he attended Harrow School.

After briefly featuring for Derbyshire, he broke through at Yorkshire and earned international recognition with England.

In total, he played 23 Tests and 16 ODIs for his adopted nation, before he switched his allegiance to the country of his birth in December having last featured for England in 2017. 

He originally shone in Test cricket, becoming the third fastest England batter to reach 1,000 runs as it took him just ten games and 17 innings.

When he brought up that milestone, Ballance averaged 67.93, but he struggled thereafter.

The 33-year-old was dropped for a third time in 2017 after a Test against South Africa with him having scored just two half-centuries in 13 Tests.

His Test average had by this point dropped all the way to 37.45 and despite some promising form for Yorkshire, he was never recalled. 

Ballance left Yorkshire in December and signed a two-year deal to play for Zimbabwe after was caught up in the racism scandal regarding Azeem Rafiq.

He hadn't featured for the White Rose since September 2021 as he spent the next 12 months on the sidelines, protecting his mental health, after he admitted to using racist language towards former Yorkshire team-mate Rafiq.

He agreed to sever ties at Headingley despite having two years left on a lucrative contract.

He had previously played five times for Zimbabwe Under 19s as a youngster before switching allegiance to England.

Under ICC regulations, a player can represent another country as long as there has been a gap of at least three years since they last played international cricket, and Ballance returned to action in a T20 and ODI series against Ireland last month. 

Zimbabwe had resumed day four of the first Test  against West Indies on 114 for three in reply to the tourists' first-innings declaration of 447 for six.

After opener Innocent Kaia was lbw to Alzarri Joseph for 67, Ballance brought up his 100, with nine fours and two sixes, ahead of tea supported by a maiden half-century from Brandon Mavuta to help push the hosts past 300.

Ballance went on to reach 137, becoming the highest Test scorer on debut for Zimbabwe, as the hosts declared at 379 for nine when still 68 runs behind.

At stumps, the West Indies reached 21 without loss from 13 overs in their second innings, a lead of 89.