It’s not been long since the England Cricket board announced their squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022. However, just days after the announcement, the cricketing board had to put up another statement updating the injury of their batsman Jonny Bairstow. The ECB put out a statement mentioning “lower-limb injury” in the left leg playing golf. The player himself had uploaded a story on Instagram stating his unavailability for the upcoming final test match versus South Africa and the T20 World Cup.
Ever since then, there has been speculation about the ideal replacement for him in the squad. Alex Hales is one name the management was pondering upon. Last seen with the team in 2019, his journey with the team has been complicated. In 2019, the English batsman was not able to clear a drug test which led to his exclusion from the world cup squad that year. The wait finally comes to an end as Alex Hales has now been included in the side.
Alex Hales is in for Jonny Bairstow in the England T20 World Cup squad
Hales’ T20I numbers are decent if not the best. In the 60 games that he has represented the country, he has 1644 runs. With a strike rate of 136.65, one century, and 8 half centuries, his numbers justify his selection for the T20 World Cup 2022. Speaking specifically only on his T20 stats which include playing for several franchises, his numbers are skyrocketing. Alex Hales has amassed 10104 in 359 matches. He has a score of 116* with an average of 30.71 and a strike rate of 147.58. Moreover, his numbers also include 5 hundred and as many as 63, 50+ scores.
Hales, who wasn’t even included in the team for the Pakistan tour, has now gained access to the T20 World Cup 2022 due to a shift in the leadership group. Jason Roy, the English opener was not selected for the team because of his disappointing performances in recent times. Jos Buttler will be leading the team this year in the competition. Last year, under the leadership of Eoin Morgan, the team reached the semi-finals.
England’s updated squad:
- Batsmen: Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Harry Brook, Dawid Malan, Phil Salt
- All-rounders: Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran
- Bowlers: Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Chris Jordan
- Reserves: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tymal Mills