Hales making most of his second chance
CHENNAI: The world's top four run-getters in the shortest format in 2022 will all be at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. Mohammad Rizwan (1802), Alex Hales (1700), Shan Masood (1605) and Jos Buttler (1544) will all be key wickets for different reasons. Just as well because they all essay contrasting roles.
It's Hales' role, though, that could decide the contest. It's remarkable to say that considering he wasn't in the original 15. A freak golf course-related injury to Jonny Bairstow opened a slot in the top-order. England, who could have potentially filled that absence with other top-order hitters, gave Hales a call.
Some might argue that call should have been made to Hales before last year's World Cup in the UAE. A little rewind to one of the longest-running non-selection sagas in international cricket.
The 33-year-old, who made his T20I debut in 2011, was supposed to be the backup opener at the 2019 World Cup. However, he was axed from the squad after it become common knowledge that he had failed a second recreational drugs test. Then England skipper Eoin Morgan said that Hales had shown 'complete disregard' for team values and that he couldn't be trusted.
With that trust irrevocably broken, Hales sort of became a six-hitter for hire in different T20 leagues across the planet. He would begin the year in Australia, move to the Pakistan Super League after that and finish the season with Nottinghamshire. In 2020 for instance, he was third best in terms of six-hitting as well as run-scoring. But England remained steadfast. In 2021, Hales' knowledge of the UAE counted for little as he was again ignored after another good campaign in franchise leagues in three continents. Then, Morgan stepped down.
England, though, eschewed the opportunity of picking him for the home bilaterals but Bairstow's injury coupled with a change in the regime — Rob Key (new managing director of ECB), Matthew Mott (new white-ball coach) and Buttler (new white-ball captain) — were all receptive to the idea of giving him another go. A clean slate.
In the interim, Hales made the news for the wrong reasons again. Last November, he apologised after historic photos of Hales wearing blackface at a party emerged. There were also allegations made by Azeem Rafiq over the name of his dog.
The opener apologised for the blackface during a media interaction in the seven-match T20I series in Pakistan. "I was a dumb 19-year-old who had no idea of the ramifications of what he was doing,” he was quoted as saying by the Guardian. On the allegations levelled by Rafiq, he had said: "... dealt with internally... everyone is happy where it’s at”. Skipper Jos Buttler backed his colleague during the same tour. "I'm sure Alex is a different person," he had said. "He spent time out of the team and it's great that he's performed well and forced his way back in."
It's fair to say that he has grabbed this opportunity. After a middling series at Pakistan, the early Australian Summer has been to his liking. He's the seventh-highest run-getter with 211 runs while averaging 52.7 and striking at 148.5. He leads the England charts in all of these metrics apart from being their leading boundary hitter with 29 (19 4s and 10 6s).
Is Julian Wood, the coach who shaped Hales' power-hitting prowess, surprised by what he has been able to do in this second innings for England? "Not really," he says. "He's proven in Australia. He has done well in the Big Bash. They have given him a second chance and he has come back, taken it massively. Not surprised he has come good."
From where does Hales get his remarkable ability to hit sixes on both sides and against both predominant bowling types (right-arm pace and right-arm spin)? Wood explains. "You have to understand with these guys, they hit the ball hard naturally. One thing that we did do, this was quite a while back... was when I looked at his... he's very tall, so he's got long levers. So, what I tried to do was get a bit more snap in his hands without losing his levers. By cocking his wrists, if I could take you back to Loughborough, we did a session there. Within two hours, he was able to add five miles to his ball exit speed just by cocking his wrists but without losing the levers he had.
"What I do with players like Hales is I won't teach them or coach them on how to hit the ball hard because they naturally hit it hard. What I can do is sustain it for a longer period, I can make it more consistent. Then they go away and just adapt their game." Wood also works on these players to get their launch angle correctly so that when they hit the ball, there is the optimum elevation. "The head position is the most important," Wood says. "You don't want to get too close to the ball, if you get too close to the ball, you crowd the ball. You create a gap and the bat fills the gap. It's got to be the right distance. Not too far, not too close. Basically, you lose your shape if you lose this principle."
Hales has been applying this principle to a T. Since the beginning of 2020, he's the third leading six-hitter in this format. If he can get a few more on Sunday or Monday, weather permitting, England will have taken a significant step forward to holding both white-ball crowns at one time.
Year No of 6s Runs scored
2022 71 (7th best) 1700 (2nd best)
2021 60 (6) 1297 (7)
2020 49 (3) 1080 (3)
2019 55 (11) 1287 (7)