Big-hitting opener was an important part of the limited-over sides until being dropped in 2019 having failed a recreational drugs test
Alex Hales has announced his full retirement from international cricket, ending an England career than ran from 2011 until last year.
Hales’ retirement, aged 34, means that his final England’s game will be last year’s T20 World Cup final against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, when England won by five wickets. While he only made one in the final, he played a crucial role in England’s World Cup triumph, including 86 not out when England crushed India by 10 wickets in the semi-final.
The sequence ensured that Hales, who was recalled for the competition after Jonny Bairstow’s broken leg suffered while playing golf, retires as a World Cup winner. He had been a central part of England’s squad for the 2019 World Cup before being dropped on the eve of the competition for failing a recreational drugs test.
Despite stellar form on the T20 franchise circuit, Hales spent the next three years outside the England side. Eoin Morgan, England’s white-ball captain until 2022, said that Hales’ actions amounted to “a complete breakdown in trust”. Hales had to wait until Jos Buttler succeeded Morgan as skipper before winning a recall.