Alex Hales is set to make a dramatic England return in the T20 World Cup after positive talks about ending his three-year exclusion from the set-up.
The 33-year-old has not featured for his country since a failed recreational drugs test in the summer of the 2019 World Cup led to his banishment from the squad.
During his subsequent exile, a “breakdown in trust” was often cited by the captain, Eoin Morgan. But events have now conspired to bring a fresh opening, through Morgan’s retirement in April and the passing the leadership baton to Jos Buttler, Jason Roy’s slump of form and the freak broken leg suffered by Jonny Bairstow playing golf last week.
Hales has remained among the premium batters on the global T20 circuit and with Rob Key stressing he had “served his time” upon being appointed director of England cricket in April, and a place at the T20 World Cup in Australia this October now beckons.