Attacking batter Alex Hales is making England return after 3 years as he has been included in the T20 World Cup squad as a replacement for Jonny Bairstow, who got ruled out after suffering a injury. Hales, now aged 33, has not played for England since 2019, having been banned on the eve of their historic one-day Cricket World Cup win after failing a second recreational drugs test.
Star all-rounder Ben Stokes said that he is happy to see Alex Hales rejoin the team. Notably, the two share a tense relationship since the 2017 Bristol fight, where Stokes had been left in a police cell in while Hales left to play golf without telling anyone what had happened.
“I think at the end of the day, everyone's goal is to win that World Cup for England. My goal, Alex's goal and everyone else who's part of that squad’s goal is to win that World Cup”, Stokes said.
“And it's an injury that presents an opportunity to someone else. Alex is definitely one of the best T20 players in the world. And unfortunately with what happened with Jonny we had to call another player up and know Alex is definitely one of the guys that bowlers just don't want to be bowling at in the T20 format”, the England Test skipper further added.
Hales had a title winning tournament with the Trent Rockets in The Hundred, scoring 259 runs at a strike rate of 152.