Alex Hales eyes Test redemption but in middle order

Alex Hales paid credits to the England management and selectors after his comeback century in Barbados against the Windies. He was also named as the Man of the Match in the final ODI of the series, which England won 3-0 after being an integral figure at the end of the English season.

Despite being dropped from the Test side, he then opted out of the Bangladesh due to the security issues that surrounded the tour. The injury limited his appearance in the India tour. With Sam Billings making two half centuries in four innings, it was tough for Hales to return to the squad.

But while Hales also admits that his decision to miss the Bangladesh tour was “a risk,” which did not turn out to be good for him. He has been supported by the management’s belief in him, and their decision to draft him back into the side as soon as his hand had recovered was a good sign for the opener.

Hales was initially deemed unfit for selection for the one-day series in the Caribbean. He completed his rehab with the tour party in Antigua and was officially added to the squad a couple of days before the final game in Barbados despite not having played a warm-up match before the tour.

“It was encouraging that they stuck with me,” Hales said to ESPN Cricinfo. “It was obviously my choice not to visit Bangladesh, and it gave the opportunity for other people to come in and do well. That was a risk I knew I was taking and the injury then occurred at a bad time for me.

“I missed the boat in India. I ran myself out in the first ODI in India and then batted with a broken hand in the second one. Karma didn’t treat me very well. It’s been a tough winter, but the team have backed me and stuck with me, and hopefully I’ve repaid their faith.”

The maturity with which he handled the situation was impressive. Barbados, usually a tricky pitch was on the seaming side assisting the fast bowlers. The first ten overs in Barbados is a test of character for the openers and Hales had managed to slug his way out of the ten overs. England managed to score only 39 runs in the first ten overs.

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Once, Hales got through the tough phase; things got better for the English opener as runs started coming thick and fast. Hales demonstrated extreme mental strength to score what he termed as “ugly runs”. It was noticeable, too, that Hales allowed himself a sustained celebration upon reaching his century.

“It’s a huge honour to represent England, and when you have time away from that, it makes you cherish what you’ve got. Playing for your country, playing in front of all these people… it’s special. I was emotional, yes. It was a combination of everything and to come here and score a hundred having not played a lot of cricket throughout the winter is an incredibly special feeling.” Concluded Hales on his return to the ODI team to ESPN Cricinfo.

Alex Hales just managed to score 573 in the longer format at an average of 27 as an opener. However, he didn’t give up his hopes on Test return and wants to concentrate on Test redemption in the middle-order.

“The plan next summer is to try and score as many runs as I can in the middle order,” he said. “Obviously depending on how many games I play for Notts that may be hindered a bit. But I’ve got something set out for the next six months and that’s a good plan for me.

“The middle order is somewhere I’ve always eyed up. But in my younger days at Notts, when you’ve got Mark Wagh, Stephen Fleming, David Hussey and Samit Patel there, it’s quite tough to get into that middle order. So I had to open to get into that Notts team and it became the same with the England team. They had Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen; the opening spot was again the place to target.”

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“So throughout my career I’ve had to bat at the top of the order to make the step up, but now I’ve had that taste and not done as well as I would have liked to it gives me something else to focus on. I’m going to give it everything this summer and see what happens.” concluded Alex Hales as per the quotes on ESPN Cricinfo.