Is Hales Walking a Tightrope?

Is Hales Walking a Tightrope?


20/10/18

Alex, after a nondescript season for Nottinghamshire, although just in the T20 format this year, and with only the odd innings of note with Team England, centrally contracted Hales still managed to bag a seat on the plane to Sri Lanka.

Injury to Hales in the summer meant that England looked elsewhere so Alex was arguably lucky to be on that plane.

Monsoon season and competition for spaces in the buoyant England  one day outfit means that now Hales has fallen behind Jonny B and Roy of the Raj in the openers pecking order, every opportunity he gets has to be grabbed and he has to avoid personal failures.

So the spotlight is on Alex Hales at all times.

The dropped catch, the missed run out opportunity were all reported widely in the media and the scorecard records his uncharacteristic pedestrian 23 ball innings and the manner of his dismissal, being drawn out of his crease to be stumped (it was a smart bit of work by the keeper in all fairness).

Having been advised by those he trusts, Hales has chosen a particular path to take; therefore he has to back himself but he has to excel when he gets his chances too, every single time; that's true in the IPL and now it's true in the England set-up, because there's always the other guy if you aren't good enough.

Alex's chosen path is to play exclusively in white ball games, a path that he hopes will lead him to the World Cup next year with England.

But is that path, under the spotlights, more like a tightrope for Alex Hales, where too many wobbles will see him crashing back down to earth.

Then there's the events in Bristol, but we don't need to say anything about those other than they could still wreck his plans and push him off his chosen path into an oncoming bus.

30/05/18

Just when you think you might have him , England snaffle him up again. Although I'm too sure how much white ball Outlaws' action he'll miss...




31/3/18 HALES SAILS TO INDIA 

As an additional consquence of Sandpapergate and David Warner's sacking from his IPL franchise, Alex Hales has been signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The IPL starts next week and stretches on beyond the start of the ODC competition in England, meaning Hales will miss the games at Old Trafford and at Welbeck at the very least.

“Clearly, we would have loved Alex to be around for the whole of our 50-over campaign, but we still go into that competition with a very strong squad," Director of Cricket Mick Newell

Without Hales in our last ODC game played in 2017, we would have been nowhere!


23/02HALES IN CARIB DRAFT

It has also been announced that Alex Hales will also be part of the Caribbean Premier League draft process, but it has been emphasised that he will not miss any Outlaws games in the Blast competition which runs at a similar time in August to the CPL.

20/02
BAZ QUITS ON CHAMPIONSHIP 

The Nottinghamshire first team championship squad has now more holes in it than Alan Hardy's golf course.

Announced today and clearly the reasoning behind Mick Newell's decision to admit that the club were looking for an overseas batsman last week, Alex Hales has extended his Nottinghamshire contract until the end of 2019 but significantly has decided that he'll only play white ball cricket.

Effectively since last we entered a CC1 season, in 2016, we have lost: James Taylor, Brendan Taylor, Michael Lumb, Chris Read, Brett Hutton, Greg Smith and now Alex Hales. Add to that some vital runs last year from our overseas bowler, James Pattinson and it comes clear that remain have to improve drastically because Gnasher and Coughlin aren't going to fill the void alone.

On paper we are short of both runs and wickets for the Championship campaign 2018 and look to be in a battle for survival before we start our first game.

AH: “The decision to focus on my white ball game wasn't taken lightly or on the spur of the moment, it's one I've thought long and hard about. It's also one I've discussed at length with the Notts management. I'd like to thank them for their continued support.”

NP: Notts had been in discussions with the player and his representatives for a number of weeks. They hoped Hales, who was entering the final year of his deal, would commit to first-class cricket this season, but he has decided the best path for his career is to focus on the shorter formats. Had Notts refused to accept his request and not extended his contract then another county would undoubtedly have signed him just to play white ball cricket.

Clearly Hales' decision wasn't made for the good of the team, leaving the county up that proverbial creek without his particular paddle but his team mates have rallied to his support, as you would expect:

Skipper: I fully appreciate Alex Hales' decision to play white ball cricket. He has 100% made it for the right reasons and I hope our fans understand that he has made the decision for the best interest of not only himself but the team. Can’t wait to see him for The Outlaws.

RW: All the best to Alex Hales. Not an easy decision and well done to him. Less mess in the changeroom to worry about now.

Hales' announcement follows his fellow England ODI player, Adil Rashid who agreed with Yorkshire that he wouldn't play red ball cricket in 2018. 

Hales' decision has been supposedly made for all the right reasons, reasons which I haven't seen in print anywhere today.

We are left to speculate about him missing out on lucrative IPL contracts and if this is connected or not. Not that that helps Notts out of their new predicament, finding a test quality number 3/4/5 batsman to go with the other a test quality number 3/4/5 batsman (Lumby) and the other test quality number 3/4/5 batsman (Pujara) that they appear to have done little about since September. Have the management replaced BT or JT either, no!

Troubling times for Mr Newell, who has to face the membership next week. Let's hope he's got some pending good news because on and off the field so far in 2018 it's all been dire so far.

Lizzy Ammon writes in the Times (21/02/18)


Alex Hales has become the second England player to step away from red-ball cricket by signing a two-year, limited-overs-only contract with Nottinghamshire, prompting fears among counties that others will do the same.

Hales, who is a regular in England’s white-ball sides but has not played Test cricket since August 2016, follows Adil Rashid, who announced last week that he would only play limited-overs cricket for Yorkshire.

The Times understands that Hales mooted the idea to Nottinghamshire towards the end of last season. The county are understood to be content with Hales’s decision, unlike Yorkshire who expressed disappointment with regard to Rashid.

Other counties, however, have said that they fear more players will follow suit ahead of the ECB’s new T20 tournament in 2020.

One county executive told The Times: “We are seeing players having more power and more options than ever before, and we will certainly see many more players opting to go down this route.

“It means we as counties will have to look carefully at our squad sizes and our budgets because if players are going to opt for only limited-overs cricket, we will have to have bigger squads to ensure we remain competitive in the County Championship. However, white ball-only contracts will be smaller in value meaning we may have some room in the budget for either red-ball specialists or to give additional contracts to academy players.”

One other executive said counties were proactively considering offering white ball or red ball-only contracts, particularly from 2020 when the schedule will change to accommodate the new eight-team competition.

Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, said of Hales’s decision: “Alex is entitled to make himself available for whatever format he wants to play and we respect his decision. He’s an outstanding white-ball player and we look forward to him helping us win more trophies in those formats.”

Nottinghamshire won both white-ball trophies in 2017 with Hales scoring 434 runs in the Royal London One-Day Cup at an average of 72.33, including a score of 187 not out in the final — one of the finest one-day innings ever played in domestic cricket’s showpiece match.

Following England’s one-day series against New Zealand, Hales will join up with Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League, which runs until March 25. He is without an IPL contract, and England’s domestic 50-over tournament does not start until May 17.