Alex Hales is back in the England fold after spending over three years in the international wilderness, with the 33-year-old benefitting from a 'freak golf injury' suffered by Jonny Bairstow.
England decided to drop opener Jason Roy for the upcoming T20 World Cup after he experienced a stark loss of form this summer, with Bairstow set to move up the order and partner white-ball captain Jos Buttler.
However, while Managing Director of England Men's cricket Rob Key was explaining the plan to the media, Bairstow slipped over at Pannal Golf Club and suffered an ankle injury which required surgery.
Hales was the man ultimately picked as his replacement, with the 33-year-old returning to the international stage for the first time since 2019, when he was axed by England after failing a second recreational drugs test.
He had been hoping to earn a recall for the World Cup and spoke to both Key and Buttler about his initial omission, with Key revealing that Hales had "argued why he wasn't there". When asked about that phone call, Hales said: "I was quite firm and forceful when I rang him.
"I wanted to know if there was a genuine chance of me playing or whether they were just saying it to the media, so I was quite forceful. I said 'if we're talking purely cricket, I feel like I should be in the squad'. I had nothing to lose, did I?
"I felt like I deserved my spot in that squad, if it was picked purely on cricketing merit. I had the right to ask why I wasn't picked; to show that drive, to show I wanted to be part of it.
"If they give me a chance, I feel I'm more than capable of filling that role at the top of the order, especially in Australia. If I didn't, I wouldn't have made that call."
Buttler also lifted the lid on his phone call with Hales, explaining: "We had a good chat, and I explained the reasons he didn't get the nod. Of course, he was disappointed with that… that's exactly right, and how it should be.
"Very quickly, though, things changed and it became obvious there was going to be someone from the next pool of players picked as a replacement. There's been a lot of water under the bridge, I think.
"It's been a long time and I'm sure Alex is a different person. He spent time out of the team and it's great that he's performed well and forced his way back in. We look forward to seeing him perform in an England shirt again."
Buttler also spoke to some of the senior players within the squad about his potential return, with Test captain Ben Stokes among those consulted after he pointedly referred to Hales as his "friend at the time" in his Amazon Prime documentary when discussing the 2017 incident in Bristol.
The pair were involved in a brawl and Stokes was arrested, later getting acquitted at trial after being charged with affray. Hales was not arrested and left to play golf the following morning without telling anyone what had happened.
However, Stokes gave his blessing for Hales to return, with Buttler adding: "I think that was important. It's no secret that when Alex got left out of the 2019 World Cup squad, Eoin did a similar kind of thing.
"He spoke to many of the senior players, all of the coaching staff and as a team I think it's important that you give ownership to other guys and gather opinions. I just wanted to double check.
"I had my own view, but I wanted to just make sure that everyone was on the same page. Everyone was, so that's great. I'm just looking forward to having him back in and around the group. It won't be long until Moeen Ali is taking the mick out of him again and all will be well."
