Happy Hales now targets a Test spot
ALEX HALES spoke of his relief at repaying the faith of the England selectors after slotting back into the one-day side with a whitewashclinching hundred against West Indies. Hales had been a bystander for much of a busy winter, pulling out of the Bangladesh tour because of security concerns, and being dropped from the Test side, before breaking his hand during the one-day series in India. But reassurances that he would slot straight back into the side in place of Sam Billings eased his concerns and he demonstrated his gratitude with 110 from 107 balls to help seal England’s 3-0 series win in Barbados on Thursday. ‘It’s an incredible feeling,’ he said. ‘The last six months have been long and frustrating, so in my first game back in a while it was great to go back out there and do that. It was pleasing they stuck with me. It was my choice not to tour Bangladesh and that gave the opportunity for other people to come in and do well. That was a risk I knew I was taking, and the injury then came at a bad time for me. It’s a huge honour to represent England, and when you spend time away from international cricket it makes you realise what you’re missing out on.’ His 109 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi last November was the first of five 50-over centuries for England in 19 innings, a sequence that also includes a 99. But Hales’s next goal is to break into the middle order of the Test team. ‘Now I’ve had that taste of Test cricket and not done as well as I would have liked to, it gives me something else to focus on,’ he said. ‘I have to be confident about my chances. I’m going to give it everything this summer.’