Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales admitted he is ‘riding the wave’ after continuing his amazing run of form with a sparkling Specsavers County Championship double century that put his side in firm control against neighbours Derbyshire.
The gifted right-handed scored 218 at exactly a run a ball, striking no less than 38 fours and a six at the 3aaa County Ground as the visitors responded to their hosts’ 220 all out by racking up a mammoth 508-9 declared.
Hales shared a stand of 204 in 35 overs for the fifth wicket with his skipper Chris Read, who hit 75 from 108 balls on his return to the side following a self-imposed break during the NatWest T20 Blast.
It was the 28-year-old’s third century in three different formats in the space of 38 days following his record 187 not out in the 50-over Royal London One-Day Cup final against Surrey on 1 July and 101 against Yorkshire on 30 July in the NatWest T20 Blast.
Incredibly, Hales has now notched 472 runs from 328 balls from five innings in nine days across two formats.
“It’s a great place to be when you are in a purple patch,” said Hales, afterwards. “I’m enjoying my cricket, in all three forms, at the moment, and I’m going to keep riding the wave and, hopefully, keep going until the end of the season.
“It has been two or three months where I have felt in really good touch and in good order across my whole game, so it’s up to me now not to be complacent and keep working hard.
“This is a big couple of months for Notts and hopefully we can go on and have a couple more bits of silverware to show for it.
“This is a massive game for us. If we can get a win here against our rivals it puts us in a great spot towards winning Division Two and back to where we want to be in four-day cricket.
“I’m pleased I managed to contribute and we’ve got a big day of bowling now ahead of us to get all the points.”
On the day that England clinched their latest Investec Test series victory against South Africa at Emirates Old Trafford, Hales played down any thoughts of targeting a return to the Test arena, or on the fight for the Ashes this winter.
He added: “I’ve not really thought about it, to be honest. In the last few months I’ve just been enjoying my cricket.
“There’s been a lot of white ball cricket. I enjoyed the clump of T20 cricket and now I’ve enjoyed this four-dayer in between.
“It’s been good to switch back to this format. I’ve not let it cross my mind and I’m going to try and not let it cross my mind. All I can do is keep on scoring runs for Nottinghamshire.”
Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman praised Hales’ knock but was frustrated by his side’s efforts overall.
“I was disappointed with the fact we weren't able to put a consistent amount of balls around the top of off stump in conditions that suited the bowlers, but what I wasn't disappointed with and was happy to see was the effort and fight from the guys,” he said.
"Alex is a fantastic player and he can hit the bad ball consistently for four, but he can also hit the good balls for four, and when someone can do that it makes the job of the captain and the bowlers difficult.”
*************