Alex Hales will make his long-awaited England return in the T20 World Cup as a replacement for the influential Jonny Bairstow, who has been ruled out after suffering a freak 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. However, a lower leg injury in a freak golfing accident has ruled Bairstow out of the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Hales has been called up for England on Wednesday ahead of a T20 series in Pakistan later this month and October's World Cup in Australia.
Hales was blacklisted from the England set-up, after failing a second recreational drugs test in 2019. The then captain Eoin Morgan saying that he had showed a "complete disregard" for the team's values and creating "a lack of trust between Alex and the team”.
However, the retirement of Morgan from international cricket and the injury to Bairstow has opened the door for Hales' return.
All the stars seemed to have aligned for Hales' return after England dropped Jason Roy after a stark loss of form, leaving a spot open for somebody else to partner captain Jos Buttler at the top of the order.
Managing director of England men's cricket Rob Key disclosed that Hales had previously argued his case for the T20 World Cup inclusion before the injury to Bairstow. Key said: "Alex Hales was mentioned when we spoke about who the best opening partner for Jos was.
"His name was mentioned a lot but we felt Jonny Bairstow was the man to do that in the World Cup. I've said on a number of occasions that I feel Alex Hales has served his time for his misdemeanours. Now it's on form, selection and whether we feel they are the best person to go out there."
Hales took the 2014 T20 World Cup by storm scoring an unbeaten 116 against Sri Lanka. Recently Hales helped Trent Rockets to victory in this season’s Hundred competition.
