Hale: fans are back on England’s side again

Fresh attacking approach reaping the rewards, claims opening batsman

Alex Hales believes England’s attacking brand of cricket in the Royal London Series against New Zealand has “won our fanbase back” after an atrocious World Cup.

England bowed out of the global tournament in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year at the group stage, with the Kiwis themselves inflicting a particularly humiliating defeat on them, triumphing with 226 balls to spare.

But Eoin Morgan’s men have proved more than a match for the Black Caps in this five-game one-day series, comfortably winning the opener at Edgbaston and pushing them close in defeats at the Oval and the Ageas Bowl.

The fourth game in the series takes place today at Trent Bridge.

Their dramatic improvement has been down to a fresh attacking approach, particularly with the bat as they have racked up three successive totals over 300 – something they had never previously achieved in ODIs.

Hales, who has yet to fully fire in this series, has welcomed the change in mindset and thinks it has won over England’s fans.

“The last week or so has been really enjoyable, particularly considering how the winter went for us as a squad,” said the opening batsman on Sky Sports News HQ.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces around and guys are doing what they’ve done for their counties now at international level so it’s good to see.

“There are fresh faces and a lot of young talent around this squad. Guys are expressing themselves in the field and enjoying themselves which is key.

“It looks like we’ve won our fanbase back in one-day cricket.”

Alex Hales believes England’s attacking approach has won back the fans.

Eoin Morgan has seen his side more than match the Black Caps during the one-day series so far.