Hales set to bolster England ODI hopes in the West Indies
ENGLAND are hoping to be bolstered by Alex Hales’s addition to their one-day international squad next week.
It emerged on day one of England’s tour of the West Indies that Hales’s recovery from a broken hand – which ruled him out of the final match of the 2-1 series defeat in India last month and subsequent Twenty20s – is expected to be confirmed by a scan on Monday.
If that optimism proves wellfounded, it is understood the record-breaking opener will arrive in Antigua before the first of three ODIs on March 3.
He will join a squad with high hopes of winning not just this summer’s Champions Trophy, but the World Cup, also to be held in England, in 2019.
As Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler arrived for England’s first training session in St Kitts, the middle-order batsman described a “special” group of players capable of becoming world-beaters, while his vice-captain warned that they are nonetheless in the “results business”.
England have eight ODIs before the Champions Trophy begins on June 1 against Bangladesh at The Oval.
Asked if it is therefore time to deliver, Buttler said: “Yes, it’s about results – we’re in the results business; we want to win games of cricket.
“We don’t want to hide behind ‘we’re trying to play a brand of cricket and results don’t matter’ – because looking forward to the summer, there’s the Champions Trophy that we really want to win.”
Buttler insists sticking to aggressive options will bring consistent success.
“Results are key now, but the results will come by staying true to the fashion we are trying to force ourselves to play in.
“It doesn’t mean you get complacent and relaxed – but you’ve proved yourself at international level, and then you can really go on and look to be consistent.
“The side’s really matured, and it’s an exciting time.” Bairstow is similarly enthused. “We know if we put the performances together like we’ve been doing 80-90 per cent of the time we can bring those together in quarter-finals, semi-finals, final – and there’s no reason why we can’t go and win the Champions Trophy and a World Cup,” he said.
“The group of players we’ve got, I firmly believe we’re a special squad.”
Bairstow’s white-ball opportunities have been sporadic of late, but as he fights for his place again here, he will be prepared to adapt.
The 27-year-old is confident he can, including at the top of the order, if necessary.
“I’ve said on a number of occasions as long as I can get into that XI, I don’t care where I bat,” he added.
“I’d like to think the form I’ve been in over the last 18 months is strong enough to push my case.
“Opening wouldn’t faze me, because you face the second new ball (at No 5) in Test cricket, so going in against the new white ball that doesn’t swing as long as the new red ball, there’s no reasons why I couldn’t handle that pressure.”
He and Buttler each expressed their congratulations to Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills on the hugely lucrative deals they struck in this week’s Indian Premier League auction.
For Buttler, the £1.7m and £1.4m value placed respectively on his two England team-mates demonstrates the strides that have been made by this country’s cricketers of late.
“The fact that English cricket players are in high demand in an auction like that, I think that’s fantastic for English cricket,” he said.
“The way we are playing now, people have been sitting up and taking notice – we’ve got some of the best players in the world.”
He can understand too that an aspiring teenage cricketer may, in the current market, consider prioritising the riches of a Twenty20 career over the prestige of one in Test cricket.
“Yes, definitely,” said Buttler, an international regular in all three formats.
“For my era, the 2005 Ashes was the big thing – and Test cricket has always been held in high regard. But I think we have to be honest and say Test cricket is facing some big challenges.
“It is not that (Twenty20) gets disrespected, but it is almost seen as not the proper (format) ... ‘if you want to just play Twenty20, you’re taking an easy option’.
“I think if people are into Twenty20 cricket ... someone like Tymal, who has focused all his energy on Twenty20, his development in that form of the game is fantastic. Youngsters probably look at that and say, ‘if I concentrate on that, then it could be a real career’.”