Alex Hales in line for shock England recall for T20 World Cup

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.

Though Key put Hales’ initial omission solely down to cricketing reasons - Bairstow was promoted to fill the opening spot left by Roy, with Lancashire’s Phil Salt the spare opener in the squad - it has still required discussions with all parties this week.

These are understood to have been constructive and it is now expected that Hales will pip Surrey’s Will Jacks - selected among the openers for next month’s tour of Pakistan - when Key names the official World Cup replacement for Bairstow this week.

This potential comeback would be a break from the Morgan era and a defining one early on in the captaincy of Buttler. The 31-year-old was among the senior players who supported Morgan’s decision to exclude Hales back in 2019, with the likes of Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes also consulted at the time.

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