Alex Hales Still Sees Himself as England's 'Fringe' Cricketer

Alex Hales still thinks of himself as being on the fringes of the England one-day side, even after a hundred that set-up a record-breaking win over world champion Australia.

Meanwhile, Hales struck a well-made 147 at Trent Bridge, as the hosts piled up a record-breaking 481 runs. As a result, Australia succumbed to pressure to hand England a series-clinching victory by a huge 242 runs.

England had shown good intent since their poor campaign at the 2015 World Cup. They rose to the number one rank and will eye to win their maiden title in front of their crowds. Despite his latest Trent Bridge century, it is likely that Hales will have to sit when Ben Stokes returns from injury.

Jonny Bairstow, who made 139 at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, and the in-form Jason Roy are now England’s ODI openers, with Hales coming in at number three. However, Hales is keen to make the most of his remaining opportunities.

“Being on the fringes of an England team, it’s about as hungry as you ever should be to string together good performances and make sure you’re fit and ready whenever the chance comes,” he said. “I don’t think my situation has changed much in terms of those two guys being ahead of me. You’ve got Jonny who’s got four hundreds in six games and Jason, when in form, is one of the best players in the world,” Hales added.

The tall and lanky batsman also added it is a good headache for the selectors. Furthermore, he feels it is three people fighting for two spots, as he looks to seal a berth.

“It’s a nice problem for the selectors and the coaches to have. It’s healthy competition and keeps everybody striving to improve. Every opportunity I get is going to be gold dust moving forward. Stokesy’s obviously going to slot back in — he’s one of the best all-rounders in the world. (So) I think it’s three of us fighting for two spots currently,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Hales said he was particularly proud the team had piled up a record score against Australia.

“There’s no better feeling and no better team to do it against than the Aussies. It’s probably our best ever team performance in terms of what we did with the bat and the way we fielded and particularly the way the spinners bowled,” he signed off.

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