T20 World Cup: England players had 'no issues' with Alex Hales's call-up, says Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler said players had no issues with the inclusion of Alex Hales in the Twenty20 World Cup squad after the batsman received his first call-up since being dropped from the squad in 2019. Hales, 33, was called up as a replacement for Jonny Bairstow, who was ruled out of the tournament in Australia after suffering a lower limb injury while playing golf. In 2019, Hales was withdrawn from the preliminary squad for the 50-overs World Cup after the Guardian newspaper reported he was serving a three-week ban for recreational drug use. "I spoke to lots of the senior players to make sure that no one would have any issues with Alex being back in the team if we wanted to select him. No one had any issues," Buttler told reporters on Thursday ahead of their T20 series in Pakistan. "He's obviously been in excellent form. We know what a talented player he is and he's gained a lot of experience as well since the last time he played for England."