Photo courtesy: IANS
Alex Hales, a batsman for England, has announced his immediate retirement from international cricket, after a career that included 156 games and 5066 runs across all three formats. In the team’s five-wicket victory against Pakistan to claim the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup at the MCG in November of last year, he played his final cricket match for England.
“It has been an absolute privilege to have represented my country on 156 occasions across all three formats. I’ve made some memories and some friendships to last a lifetime and I feel that now is the right time to move on.”
“Throughout my time in an England shirt I’ve experienced some of the highest highs as well as some of the lowest lows. It’s been an incredible journey and I feel very content that my last game for England was winning a World Cup final,” said Hales in a statement on his Instagram account.
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Due to Jonny Bairstow’s unexpected leg injury that kept him out of play for the T20 World Cup, Hales unexpectedly returned for England’s tours of Pakistan and England. In England’s final two group games against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, Hales made 52 and 47 of his attempts.
When England overcame India by ten wickets in the semifinal at Adelaide, he was at his electrifying best, scoring an unbeaten 86 off 47 deliveries. Hales eventually managed to retire from international cricket as a T20 World Cup victor despite falling cheaply in the MCG final.
The right-handed batsman scored seven hundreds for England in international cricket, including the nation’s first T20I century and a then-record 171 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge. He played on two teams that broke the ODI world record, with his 171 helping England to a total of 444/3 and his 147 helping the squad to a record-breaking 481/6 against Australia in Nottingham two summers later.
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“There are so many memories that I have made both on and off the pitch, but I look back, particularly to those two One Day International World Record scores at Trent Bridge and being able to reach three figures in both of those games on my home ground was really special. And to come away from my last tournament with England as a T20 World Cup winner is the perfect finish,” stated Hales, as per his county side Nottinghamshire.
Before being dropped from the England team for the Men’s ODI World Cup in 2019 due to failing a recreational drug test, Hales was a dependable member of the ODI revival in England. Eoin Morgan led England to victory in the end, and Hales hasn’t participated in a 50-over international cricket match since.
After getting into a street brawl outside a Bristol nightclub with Ben Stokes, the ECB also suspended him. Hales played 11 Tests in addition to his white-ball appearances, scoring five half-centuries and averaging 27.28, although he was benched before England’s tours in 2016–17 and gave up red-ball cricket before the 2018 county championship season.
“Throughout the ups and downs, I’ve always felt a huge amount of support from my friends, family and undoubtedly the best fans in world cricket. I look forward to continuing to play for Notts and experiencing more franchise cricket around the world,” concluded Hales.
-IANS
Also Read: Top 5 Super Over Performances In The History Of Cricket
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