Hot-shot Hales couldn’t have timed it better

THE T day after describing himself h as a ‘fringe’ player, Alex Hales performed as if he were the most glittering star in E England’s galaxy. An innings of 147 from 92 balls, studded with 16 fours and five sixes, would have been eyecatching under most circumstances. But Hales needed to make a point more than any batsman. Ben Stokes (right) returns from injury, possibly for next month’s one-day series against India, and the wisdom before this game was that Hales would be the man to make way. Even Hales thought so. But now, national selector Ed Smith faces a conundrum. Time was when Hales and Jason Roy seemed inseparable at the top of t the order. But having recently collected a few black marks and after Jonny Bairstow made himself indispensable as Roy’s new partner, Hales is having to reinvent himself at No 3. It has not gone smoothly. But Nottingham, Hales’s home ground and the scene of his 171 — then E England’s highest in individual score — in a world-record 444 for three against Pakistan t two summers ago, has b become a haven for w white-ball batting. A After Roy and Bairstow h had started with a b blistering 159 inside 20 overs, he might easily have gone too hard, too early. But Hales played himself in, before hoicking Aaron Finch’s left-arm spin through midwicket. It was the first of five fours in seven balls. Hales brought up a 38-ball half-century with a straight six off slow left-armer Ashton Agar, then carted AJ Tye — who went on to concede 100 — for three fours in a row. The hundred came from just 62 balls. When Eoin Morgan came to the wicket, he told Hales his team would never have a better chance of reaching 500. They looked on course when Hales shattered the world record by hoisting Jhye Richardson high over deep square leg. Instead, they had to settle for 481 for six. Morgan said: ‘It’s my best day as captain, our best performance by a stretch. It’s a very proud day for us as a group.’ Aussie captain Tim Paine said: ‘I’ve been playing cricket since I was a kid, and that was the hardest day’s cricket of my life.’ Hales might have been speaking for himself when he said: ‘We have some great memories here as a team. Today is another special day.’ He will be hard to drop now.