Alex Hales been selected in England ODI squad: The opening batsman had last represented England in white-ball cricket in March 2019.
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England have announced a 24-member training group for their upcoming three-match ODI series against Ireland beginning from July 30.
Much like the Test squad, the selected players will enter a bio-secure bubble at the Ageas Bowl on July 16 to train and then play two intra-squad matches before the final squad is announced.
ALSO READ: Mark Wood confident of English players accepting Alex Hales in national team
Apart from nine uncapped players, the training group also comprises of comebacks for players of the likes of Sam Billings, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, James Vince, David Willey and Reece Topley.
Has Alex Hales been selected in England ODI squad for Ireland series?
Axed England ODI batsman Alex Hales, who last played for England during the tour of West Indies, was one name which was expected to feature in the ODI training group especially in times when a totally different squad for ODIs has been announced.
While it was mentioned by the English Cricket Board that Pat Brown, Chris Jordan and Dawid Malan were absent due to respective injuries, no update was provided with respect to Hales as his national comeback continues to be delayed.
While former captain Nasser Hussain, former batsman Nick Compton and all-rounder Chris Woakes have supported Hales’ return in the recent past, white-ball captain Eoin Morgan has spoken of the otherwise.
Hales, who was initially part of England’s squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, was dropped as he was tested positive for a recreational drug days after the squad was announced.
The 31-year old batsman has scored 1,590 runs in 53 T20s at an average of 34.57 and a strike rate of 142.73 including 14 half-centuries to press for a national return but his wait doesn’t seem to end in the near future.
In 53 ODIs as an opening batsman, Hales has scored 1,974 runs at an average of 38.70. Talking about the English opening batsmen in the last 10 years, Hales has the second-best number of centuries (5) and third-best strike rate (96.29) among batsmen with more than 1,000 runs.
