‘He will be hard to keep out’ - England coach Matthew Mott on Alex Hales’ ODI return

Prolific England batter Alex Hales is in tremendous form at the moment. Playing for Desert Vipers in the ILT20, the 34-year-old has smashed 257 runs in his last three appearances. The opener is hitting boundaries for fun and this form can eventually help him make a return to England’s ODI squad.

Hales made his return to the national side for the first time in three years during the buildup of the T20 World Cup 2022. Despite doing reasonably well, the cricketer wasn’t included in the three-match ODI series against Australia and now, he is not a part of the upcoming series against South Africa.

However, England’s white-ball coach Matthew Mott believes that if he manages to keep performing at the same level, it will be very hard for the management to keep him out of action. Calling him a proper cricketer, the 49-year-old said that there’s no reason why he can’t get into the ODI set-up of the England team in the near future.

“To me, white-ball cricket is white-ball cricket. He has shown he is not a slogger of the ball. He is a proper cricketer and there is absolutely no reason why he could not get in that 50-over team. We have got some tough selections coming up, and we do not play a lot of one-day cricket, but I am sure if he keeps in this rich vein of form he will be hard to keep out,” Mott was quoted by Sky Sports.

Despite being a T20 specialist, Hales is not a stranger to ODI cricket. He has played 70 matches for England in the format and scored 2,419 runs at an average of 37.79. Notably, he last played an ODI in March 2019 against West Indies. After that, he played plenty of franchise cricket and reestablished his authority at the top of the order.

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