Life in the Freezer? - Alex Hales

Despite his runs, Alex Hales remains stuck on the outside as England begin World Cup journey

SAM MORSHEAD - The Cricketer 11/02/2020: As the anniversary of Hales' last England appearance (March 10) edges closer, the country's second top runscorer in men's T20Is remains out of favour. Why? And is this stasis set to last forever?

Alex Hales is among the most sought-after players in franchise cricket, one of England’s best ever T20 batsmen and has spent the winter months dominating bowlers in the Big Bash.

Yet, instead of strapping on his pads as the road to the World Cup begins in East London on Wednesday, the opener is back home in the East Midlands, hiding from the snow as his England freezeout continues.

More than nine months have passed since Hales was dropped from the national squad, just days away from the start of a home World Cup, after failing a recreational drugs test for a second time.

It was the culmination of a tumultuous year and a half, during which the batsman attracted substantial public attention, and criticism, for his actions away from cricket - from his presence outside a Bristol nightclub on the night of Ben Stokes’ arrest to allegations about his private life during a tour of West Indies.

The second failed drugs test, which triggered a 21-day ban, was the straw which broke the selectors’ backs, and his removal from the squad was designed to make sure his teammates were “free from any distractions” in the build-up to the tournament, which they ultimately went on to win.

That Hales was not on the podium at Lord’s on July 14 to celebrate the successful culmination of a project to which he had contributed so much was punishment in its purest form.

But England stressed that, for all his faults, Hales’ situation was not terminal.

In September, director of men’s cricket Ashley Giles insisted “the door is not closed”.

“A mistake should not haunt you for life,” he said.

As the anniversary of Hales’ last England appearance (March 10) edges closer, however, the country’s second top runscorer in T20Is remains on the outside.

Why? And is this stasis set to last forever?

From a performance perspective, Hales could not have done any more to prove his value to his country.

Since the start of 2019, only one man has scored more T20 runs in major franchise competitions than his 1,629 - the great AB de Villiers. What’s more, Hales is one of only seven men to have made 1,000-plus runs in those tournaments at a strike rate in excess of 140. In the Big Bash just gone, only Marcus Stoinis made more tournament runs than his 576.

There is good reason why Hales is among the most in-demand short-format players on the planet - and that is no wild exaggeration.

He was the first pick in last year’s CPL draft, a platinum selection by Karachi Kings for this season’s PSL, he will be an icon player in the first edition of The Hundred with Trent Rockets, and several Big Bash franchises have voiced their interest in signing him to a multi-year deal following his exploits in Sydney.

“There may be a perception that Alex needs to score 50 per cent more runs than most people to get back in that (England) team,” Hales’ agent James Cross told The Cricketer. “He’s got to be banging that door down, which quite frankly he seems to be doing at the moment.”

England, of course, go into World Cup year absurdly spoiled for choice when it comes to T20 openers, and it is not only Hales who finds himself stuck in a holding pattern.

Liam Livingstone strikes the ball as cleanly as anyone else available to Morgan; Tom Banton’s introduction to senior cricket has been certifiably seismic (772 runs at an average of 38.6 and with a strike rate of 165.7 in major franchise and county T20 since the start of last year); and James Vince has become a prized asset around the world’s leagues (1,434, 28.1, 133.4).

MOST RUNS IN MAJOR FRANCHISE & COUNTY T20 (SINCE JAN 1, 2019)

AB de Villiers - 1,726

Alex Hales - 1,629

Cameron Delport - 1,446

Rilee Rossouw - 1,444

James Vince - 1,434

Marcus Stoinis - 1,415

Liam Livingstone - 1,297

D'Arcy Short - 1,284

Chris Gayle - 1,181

Colin Ingram - 1,167

And that is not to mention Laurie Evans - the most consistent T20 batsman on the planet in 2018 - or Phil Salt, who has made an impact in both the PSL and the Big Bash.

In front of the lot of them, however, are Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy and Dawid Malan; not just obstacles, but great landslides blocking the road.

Even if Hales had none of the baggage, his seat on the plane to Australia still would not be guaranteed. But that baggage is there, and it is still weighing him down.

"Alex is in fantastic form… but his form has never been a question about him coming back into the squad,” England captain Eoin Morgan told Sky Sports ahead of the ODI series in South Africa.

"What happened prior to the World Cup last summer was a complete breakdown in trust between Alex and the team.

"The way back in for Alex is to try and rebuild that trust and that takes a considerable amount of time. We are in that time at the moment."

How a player rebuilds trust thousands of miles away from his countrymen, while playing on the franchise circuit, is not entirely clear.

This does not seem to be a situation that can be solved by therapists or teambuilding manuals - otherwise, some proactive soul at the ECB would surely by now have stood Morgan on a treestump, told Hales to hold out his arms, and pushed the England skipper backwards.