England cricketer Alex Hales reckons he’s still maintaining his high-level gameplay and continues to be a player of international quality. Hales was dropped from England’s squad for the 2019 World Cup after failing a drug test. He hasn’t played for the national side since then. Skipper Eoin Morgan stated that Hales had ‘lost the trust of the team’.
In the meantime, Alex Hales has been setting franchise cricket on fire across the world. He fits England’s current mojo of white-ball cricket to a tee but is struggling to earn a call-up. However, this hasn’t affected his form.
“Every tournament I play is always a chance for me to keep reminding people I’m still an international quality player. I think the last two years I’ve done that. Every tournament I’ve gone to, I’ve performed well and shown people that I’m still that level of a cricketer. So that’s all I can keep doing,” Hales was reported as saying.
In his latest venture, ‘The Hundred’, Hales played a match-winning knock of 40* to take Trent Rockets across the line. He revealed his thought process during the innings.
“I always felt that if I was in at the end, we’d have a chance. It was a fairly difficult pitch to bat on, not your typical Trent Bridge pitch. But you can always catch up at the end there with the fast-scoring outfield and smallish boundaries. I just tried to hang in there and take it as deep as I could,” he said.
“It’s still early days in The Hundred, but so far it’s felt really competitive and enjoyable” – Alex Hales
England and Wales Cricket Board’s The Hundred has garnered a lot of attention ever since its inception and Alex Hales feels it has an international atmosphere attached to it.
“It’s felt close to international cricket, and the buzz around this ground in the last few days has been unbelievable. It genuinely had that feel, almost of an international fixture, and the quality of cricket has been really good as well,” the 32-year-old asserted.
The first few days of the tourney has seen a mixed bag of reviews. Although the rules and regulations have been tough to follow for the fans, the cricketers seem to enjoy the format so far. Whether it appeals to the wider masses is yet to be seen.
“The condensing down to eight teams has really lifted the standard. It’s still early days in the tournament, but so far it’s felt really competitive and really enjoyable,” Hales concluded.
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