Batson was discovered by Worcestershire after writing to the county the previous winter to ask for a trial.
That winter, he played a single List A game for Zimbabwe Cricket Academy against England A at the Harare South Country Club ground, making 43.
Batson played three successive first-class matches in May 1999, but 91 runs in six innings was not enough to keep him in contention and he returned to the seconds.
There he continued to struggle at first, but two hundreds and two more half-centuries in July was enough to gain him another chance in the County Championship game against Yorkshire in early August.
That was to prove his final appearance in senior cricket, although he did play one further match for Essex Second XI in 2000.