Gary Ballance signs two-year Yorkshire contract extension

Yorkshire batsman Gary Ballance has extended his contract for another two years, keeping at the club until the end of the 2021 season.

The 29-year-old, who has made 23 Test appearances for England, will embark on his 12th season with Yorkshire this summer.

Zimbabwe-born Ballance made his Yorkshire debut in 2008 and has been part of two County Championship title wins.

"It's great to be rewarded with a few extra years," the former Yorkshire captain said. "I've been here for 11 years now and my aim is to finish my career here.

"Now I've signed the deal I can concentrate on scoring runs for Yorkshire and enjoying the summer. I've played here for such a long time, I love the lads and everything about Yorkshire, so I'm just focusing on enjoying my cricket."

Left-hander Ballance, who took time out from the game for personal reasons in May last year, has scored over 10,000 first-class runs at an average of 47.53. He has scored 6,899 runs in 102 matches for Yorkshire.

"When you play continuously for so long, you can get a bit stale," he added. "For me it was good to get away and refresh the mind. I came back really looking forward to it."

Ballance has scored 1,498 Test runs for England at an average of 37.45, but lost his place in the squad early last year when he was overlooked for the New Zealand leg of their winter tour.