Eoin Morgan, England's white ball captain, says the progress of Alex Hales in the international arena has been ‘ground breaking’.

Speaking ahead of the Royal London One-Day International opener against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge, Morgan called Hales ‘unique’ in the way he has progressed from T20 specialist in global terms, to all format international.

“Hales in particular has been a ground breaking player in English cricket,” said the skipper.

“He’s had the unique success where it actually started, international wise, with t20 cricket and worked his way through the one day team through performances, not only here in Nottingham but also in the white ball side.

“He has been rewarded with Test Match cricket, and if you watch him over the last two years, the amount he has grown as a cricketer has been hugely significant.”

Hales’ first series in the five-day format saw him average 17 with one half-century during the four-match campaign in South Africa.

He followed it up by posting five scores in excess of 50, including one century, during the one-day series against the same opposition, and by helping his country to the final of the ICC World T20.

Hales then elected to take a two-match break at the start of the Specsavers County Championship season, before returning to form with scores of 36, 34 and 73 ahead of the Test series.

The subsequent three match series against Sri Lanka yielded 292 runs at an average of 58, making Hales the second leading scorer in the series behind Jonny Bairstow.

Now, on the back of that form, he reverts back to the white ball arena on his home ground on Tuesday afternoon.

“After a tough series in South Africa in the winter, he bounced back really well in the one-day series,” said Morgan.

“He was the leading scorer in the whole series, so that shows that he has a huge amount of character.

“What’s most impressed me about him is, in the Test earlier in the summer where the ball moved around a lot, he was very composed, played the ball late, and showed his experience. That optimises how far he’s come as a cricketer.”

Captain Morgan also reserved praise for Trent Bridge, where the ground has sold out in advance ahead of England’s return.

“Trent Bridge is an outstanding place to come, I absolutely love it,” he said.

“We get outstanding support while we are here and my personal memories are pretty good ones.

“I scored my first Test match hundred here, which is a solid memory and, last year, with this group we chased down 350 in 44 overs which was quite a big turn around in the series for us, so that sits quite fondly.”

 

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