"They might not be best mates and that's OK" - England coach Matthew Mott confident of Ben Stokes and Alex Hales working together towards their 'common goal'
England's limited-overs coach Matthew Mott remains optimistic that Ben Stokes' strained relationship with Alex Hales will not distract them from winning the T20 World Cup. Mott mentioned Stokes' words of wanting to win the T20 World Cup, a goal shared by Hales.
Alex Hales, who failed to make the original cut, entered England's T20 World Cup squad as Jonny Bairstow's replacement. The 33-year-old had allegedly lost the trust of the England side after failing a drugs test twice before the 2019 World Cup, leading to a three-year exile from international cricket.
England have withdrawn star batsman Alex Hales from their World Cup squad. cricket.com.au/news/alex-hale… https://t.co/xEN6uUZlKB
Stokes, who will miss the T20 series in Pakistan, underlined that their goal is to help England win the World Cup and that the right-handed batter is the perfect replacement for Bairstow.
Meanwhile, Mott believes that the duo need not necessarily be best friends as long as they work amicably towards their common goal. The 48-year-old stated, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo:
"They might not be best mates and that's OK. I'm sure you work with colleagues all the time who aren't your best mate but you can work with them if you've got a common goal. Ben's come out and stated that as well. He wants to win World Cups.
"I'm sure Alex does as well and we all do, so we try and pick the best players and if they end up becoming good mates again that's great; if not, as long as they're going towards that goal of winning the World Cup together, then that's how teams function."
It's worth noting that Alex Hales and Ben Stokes were involved in the infamous brawl outside a nightclub in Bristol five years ago that saw the latter charged with affray.
The 31-year-old was later found not guilty and addressed Hales in the recently-released documentary, Phoenix from the Ashes, as "my friend at the time, Alex."
"Nobody's perfect - I'm certainly not" - Matthew Mott on Alex Hales' comeback
Mott further claimed that he rang Trevor Bayliss, England's World Cup-winning coach in 2019, while considering Alex Hales' inclusion and felt that he was the best candidate.
"I rang Trevor Bayliss around the time we were considering it and asked if he had any views. Obviously, he was coach at the time and has worked with him at Sydney Thunder. He said he's had absolutely no problem with him at all, he's made mistakes but he's trying to get better. For me, that's it. Nobody's perfect - I'm certainly not - but if he's trying to get better and he's the best player, then we can work around it."
Alex Hales has also been added to our squads for the #T20WorldCup and IT20 tour of Pakistan 🏏
The Nottinghamshire batter has been one of the most prolific short-format batters in franchise cricket. Hales' 1,502 runs are the most in the Big Bash League (BBL) since October 2019.
Not just that, before being exiled from the English team, Alex Hales had a successful career in limited-overs cricket at the international level too. He played 70 ODIs for England and scored 2,419 runs with six hundreds and 14 half-centuries, at an average of 37.79 and strike-rate of 35.72.
In 60 T20I matches, Hales managed 1,644 runs at an average of 31.01 and strike-rate of 136.65. He even has a T20I hundred to his name.
The explosive right-hander was a regular member of the England ODI team and had formed a very successful opening partnership with Jason Roy at the top of the order. However, his spot was usurped by Jonny Bairstow in the 50-over set-up, after which his chances dried up.
The series against Pakistan could be his way back to a more permanent spot in the English limited-overs side.