Alex Hales added to England's T20 World Cup squad as injured Jonny Bairstow’s replacement

In what can be called a sensational decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board, Alex Hales has been added to England’s T20 World Cup squad as Jonny Bairstow’s replacement. The wicketkeeper-batter sustained a left ankle injury while playing golf which ruled him out of the gala tournament. While Jason Roy was initially expected to replace Bairstow, the selectors have called back Hales, who last represented England in May 2019.

On the eve of the 2019 World Cup, Hales, who was initially picked for the tournament, was found guilty of recreational drug use. He was subsequently expelled from the national team and had been waiting for a recall ever since then. Although the dasher continued to impress in T20 leagues around the world, England’s power-packed batting line-up kept Hales out of the contention.

Alex Hales likely to join forces with Jos Buttler at the top 

However, with Bairstow out of the tournament, the selectors went back to Hales as the dasher has a plethora of experience of playing on Australian tracks. He’s all but likely to partner skipper Jos Buttler at the top of the order. Notably, Hales, who was the first England player to smash a T20I hundred, holds a significant amount of experience in the international arena. 

In 60 T20Is so far, he has scored 1644 runs which includes eight half-centuries alongside a ton. Hales has time and again expressed his desire to represent the national team again. In fact, Rob Key, the managing director of  England men's cricket team, recently revealed that Hales called him after being omitted from the initial squad for the showpiece tournament.

"I spoke to Alex Hales, he rang me actually, and he argued why he wasn't there and I think that's quite right too. I much prefer when these people pick up the phone and say, 'come on then, why wasn’t I there?' I have a huge amount of respect for that as opposed to people who go behind the scenes moaning about why they've not been picked," Key said in a statement. While Hales would have been disappointed back then, he would now be determined to shine in England colours once again. 

England squad for T20 World cup 2022: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Alex Hales, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, and Mark Wood.

Travel Reserve: Tymal Mills, Liam Dawson, and Richard Gleeson