Cricketer Alex Hales is all set to make a return to the England team after a gap of three years. The opener will be replacing Jonny Bairstow in the upcoming 20-20 World Cup who has been ruled out after suffering from an injury.
Hales hasn’t played for England since 2019 when he was banned after failing a second recreational drugs test. However, after Bairstow suffered a lower leg injury in a freak golfing accident which ruled him out of the upcoming world cup, Hales is all set to make a comeback.
Hales is set to be called up for England on Wednesday ahead of a T20 series in Pakistan later this month and October’s World Cup in Australia.
The 33-year-old was ostracized from the England set-up, after failing a second recreational drugs test in 2019. Following the incident, former England captain Eoin Morgan said that Hales had shown a “complete disregard” for the team’s values and created “a lack of trust between Alex and the team”.
However, Morgan’s retirement from international cricket and Bairstow’s injury has opened the door for Hales’ return.
England men’s cricket’s Managing Director, Rob Key, disclosed that Hales had previously argued his case for the T20 World Cup inclusion before the injury to Bairstow. He said, “Alex Hales was mentioned when we spoke about who the best opening partner for Jos was.
“His name was mentioned a lot but we felt Jonny Bairstow was the man to do that in the World Cup. I’ve said on a number of occasions that I feel Alex Hales has served his time for his misdemeanours. Now it’s on form, selection and whether we feel they are the best person to go out there,” Key added.
Hales had the highest individual score in the 2014 20-20 World Cup scoring an unbeaten 116 against Sri Lanka. Recently he helped Trent Rockets to victory in the second season of The Hundred competition. In 60 innings of his T20I career, Hales has scored 1644 runs at an average of 31 and a strike rate of 136. He also has one hundred and eight fifties to his name in his T20I career.
