Nottinghamshire batsman Alex Hales has been recalled to the England squad for the T20 World Cup as a replacement for the injured Jonny Bairstow. The 33-year-old will also be available for the upcoming tour of Pakistan, with Bairstow having sustained a serious leg injury in a “freak accident” on the golf course last week.
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Hales has not played for England since March 2019. He failed a recreational drugs test and former England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan said that had led to a “complete breakdown in trust”.
However, the batter’s form, along with Morgan’s retirement, has enabled him to force his way back into the selectors’ thoughts. The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed his recall in a short team update issued on Wednesday.
So why was Hales not considered for England selection all these years despite decent performances in T20 leagues around the globe?
Well, this stretches back to the build-up of England’s historic campaign at the 2019 ODI World Cup. Weeks before the tournament was to start, Halex failed a second drugs test and was banned from cricket for 21 days as punishment.
England then withdrew him from their world cup squad with the then team director Ashley Giles saying the decision was taken to create “the right environment” for the team and keep free from any “distractions”.
The then England captain Eoin Morgan explained the big call.
“We’ve worked extremely hard on our culture in the last 18 months since the Bristol incident,” said Morgan referring to the brawl in September 2017 in which Hales and Ben Stokes were involved.
“It really did open our eyes to ourselves, not just being judged as performers but how we are as role models. We have been working on it to try and find values that everybody across all three formats can adhere to and those values have been in place the past six months.
“Unfortunately Alex’s actions have shown complete disregard for those values. This has created a lack of trust between Alex and the team,” he added.
As it turned out, Hales was not selected again till a freak injury to Bairstow created a space for the outcast to force his way back on Wednesday.
England’s squad for T20 WC: Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Alex Hales
England squad for Pakistan tour: Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Luke Wood, Mark Wood, Alex Hales
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