Hales takes indefinite break for ‘personal reasons’

Alex Hales was under a World Cup cloud on Friday night after taking an indefinite break from cricket for ‘personal reasons.’

Hales pulled out of Nottinghamshire’s Royal London Cup game against Lancashire on Friday and his county later confirmed that no timetable had been set for his return to the game.

The news comes just a week before England are due to gather in Cardiff for a three-day training camp and is a concern at the start of such a huge year and with the World Cup just over a month away.

It is the latest setback for the troubled Hales who earlier this year was banned for six whiteball games, four of them suspended, and fined £17,500 (RM85,000) by the ECB for his part in the infamous brawl in Bristol that left Ben Stokes facing criminal charges.

And only last month Hales was exposed by a newspaper for allegedly cheating on his long-term girlfriend during England’s tour of the Caribbean where Eoin Morgan’s 50-over side drew 2-2 against West Indies and then won the Twenty20 series 3-0.

A source close to Hales said on Friday that they were confident he would still be able to join Morgan and company in Wales next Saturday but the news seemed to take England by surprise with management unclear as to what Hales new problem was.

Hales no longer plays red-ball cricket for Nottinghamshire so has had time to sort out any personal issues ahead of what would have been his first real action of this seismic season on Friday.

So the fact he felt the need to pull out of action represents a worry even though Hales is no longer part of England’s first-choice World Cup side after losing his place to Jason Roy in the aftermath of the ugly scenes in Bristol when he was out late with Stokes.

Hales, 30, remains an important member of England’s whiteball squad and is guaranteed a place as the spare batsman in their final World Cup 15 having been named in their preliminary party last week.

He admitted in a recent interview that ‘sometimes I make mediocre decisions but I don’t want to make them anymore’ and it can only be hoped that his new issue is not serious enough to impact on England’s World Cup plans.