Gary Ballance has pointed to his continued desire to improve and evolve as the reason behind his consistent success with the bat in the Specsavers County Championship.
The Zimbabwe-born 29-year-old, a two-time County Championship winner, on Tuesday night topped a poll of more than 1500 Members and supporters to become Members’ Player of the Year for 2019. Ballance gained 30% of the vote and was presented with his award in the Long Room and in front of the Club’s Members.
“It’s an honour to get the award,” said Ballance, who has so far scored 975 runs in four-day cricket. “I feel as though it has been a decent season for myself and hopefully I can finish strongly from here. We’ve got a great support base, a lot of Members who come and watch, so to get that appreciation is a great honour. It’s always a good feeling that people recognise you for the season you’ve had, I’m really pleased.
“Every season is different. Sometimes you can score 800 runs and feel as though you’ve had a good season, because of the wickets you’re on and who you’re playing against.
“This has been up there because of the hundreds I’ve scored and the way they contributed to games we won. It’s always nice to make match-winning contributions.”