Alex Hales

Blessed with tremendous hand-eye co-ordination, the tall top-order batsman's power-hitting stance has brought him some of the most memorable centuries made by Englishmen in the one-day international arena

Born: January 3, 1989

Role: Right-hand bat

An aggressive top-order batsman whose level of adventurism was almost unprecedented when he first broke into the side, Hales’s cricketing elegance remains one of his core strengths despite the rather unpalatable scenes he has become involved in off the field.

Signed by Nottinghamshire in 2008, Hales would demonstrate his belligerent strokeplay with fruitful Friends Life T20 and first-class campaigns in 2011 in which he scored 544 runs and 1,000 runs respectively.

Fine form for the England Lions that year consequently saw him make his T20I debut against India, the format in which he came to prove his ingenious batting despite just missing out on becoming the first England player to score a T20 century with his 99 against the West Indies in 2012.

That feat however would arrive for the former T20I no.1 batsman two years later at the World T20 as he gave the Sri Lankan bowlers a torrid time as he recorded the only century of the tournament.

The clamour for him to be included in the ODI setup gained further momentum following his stellar T20 performances, and the call from the selectors duly followed for a debut against India in Cardiff.

Hales however failed to replicate the form that had seen him take the shortest format by storm, and preceding modest series’ against India and Sri Lanka meant that he only played a minor role at the 2015 World Cup, including the humiliating defeat to Bangladesh.

However, a major beneficiary of the ‘New England’ brand of cricket, he forged a tremendous partnership with Jason Roy at the top of the order to turn help England rise from their World Cup turmoil.

A Man of the Series trophy in South Africa and a blistering series against New Zealand were notable achievements before he lit up his home stadium once again with his 171 against Pakistan in 2016 as England made 444, the highest ever ODI total.

Hales’ form even saw him tried out at the Test level as England looked for a partner for Alastair Cook after the retirement of Andrew Strauss, but selectors lost patience with him after 11 Tests.

But while he now represents a consistent performer for Notts and still hitting the occasionally devastating innings for his country (the 147 against Australia last year) having signed a white-ball only contract in 2018, he has lately been the subject of news away from the cricket field.

He was involved in the incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September 2017 which saw Ben Stokes appear in court and later cleared of affray, before taking time off indefinitely from Nottinghamshire this season for “personal reasons”.

However, should Hales be ready for the start of World Cup preparations, he may have to bide his time yet again if Jonny Bairstow and Roy continue at the top of the order.