BIg-HIttER HAlES StIll mISSIng
HE’S one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket but Alex
Hales is no nearer getting back into this England white-ball side.
And his Big Bash coach believes it’s time for some honesty about why his path is still blocked. Shane Bond worked with Hales at the Sydney Thunder in a tournament where Hales topped the runscoring.
His chances of playing for England again, though, look as distant as ever, with Eoin Morgan this week suggesting that he had little chance of breaking into his T20 World Cup squad. A decision that Bond struggles to believe.
“I don’t think Alex has resigned himself to not being picked but I don’t think he’s expecting to be called up,” says the New Zealander. “But is he in the best 15 for the World Cup squad for England – you’ve got to say he is.
“If you’re told that you’re not going to be selected then I think you can live with that as a player.
“But for Alex, it’s the uncertainty of being told it’s trust issues and then not knowing what you have to do to get back in.
“I haven’t been asked as the Thunder coach, ‘Is Alex doing these things so we can select him again?’
“I don’t know if they’re just token gestures, saying that he might still be able to earn a recall but then not picking him.” He played his most recent international against the West Indies in March 2019 before being dropped from England’s squad after testing positive for a recreational drug on the eve of the World Cup.
There is little evidence of a softening of England’s stance.
His feats in the Big Bash – with a strike rate of over 160 – single him out as a man in the form of his life.