Alex Hales has opened up on his return to the England squad after a three-year exile, explaining the sorrow he felt sitting out of the team and watching them win the World Cup without him. Hales’ homecoming comes after England won the World Cup without him in 2019. He continued by reiterating his conviction that, to arrive at this point in his life, he had to grow up and gain wisdom from the mistakes he had made in the past.
As a result of Jonny Bairstow‘s injury, Alex Hales’ lengthy absence from the England national team has finally come to an end. Hales has been selected to replace Bairstow in the Twenty20 World Cup as well as seven Twenty20 Internationals against Pakistan. In 2019, the 33-year-old player was kicked out of the England squad captained by Eoin Morgan after he failed a test for recreational drugs for a second time soon before the World Cup.
However, since then, the opener has been creating waves in T20 competitions all over the globe, whilst Jason Roy has been struggling for form, which is what led to the choice made by the England management.
Alex Hales hasn't played for over three years, but is still England's third-highest run-scorer in men's T20Is 😯 pic.twitter.com/vQ7RbnOJSw
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 16, 2022
What did Alex Hales say?
In a column for the Daily Telegraph, the opener seemed happy to have a second chance at a career on the international stage.
“I did think I wouldn’t get another chance. As a cricket player, your worst nightmare is to be on a World Cup team, miss the last day of practice, and then have to watch your team play. It’s great to see the team win, but it makes you feel bad that you weren’t a part of it,” said Hales.
“Not being on the team for three years was a bummer. At the end of the day, wasn’t it my fault? What I did was something I did. I only have to raise my hands,” Hales admitted with shame.
Alex Hales knows he's a much better T20 batter than when he last played for England. How will he fare on his return to international cricket?
Interview ▶️https://t.co/Hsr2ES7FPq pic.twitter.com/hE4mOY51fD
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 17, 2022
Alex has played in more than 350 Twenty20 matches, and he has scored more than 10,000 runs at an incredible strike rate of 147.58. He has reached new heights over the course of the last three years, amassing a total of 926 runs over the course of the previous two Big Bash League seasons.
