Five players who were unlucky to miss out on England's Ashes squad
England announced the squad for the Ashes on Wednesday. While the majority of the side comprises of the usual suspects, there were a few surprises as well. Three uncapped players were included in the squad and while Joe Root's side are struggling to still find the right combination in the middle-order, they now have the pieces of the puzzle they need to solve in Australia.
Ben Stokes' arrest a couple of days prior to the announcement of the squad wasn't what the side required but the vice-captain retained his place in the side although he is under an internal investigation. Of the many faces that made it, there were some who deserved to be on the squad but failed to make the cut.
Here are five players who were unlucky to miss out on England's Ashes squad:
Alex Hales
The story of Alex Hales' Test struggles are well-documented. England's limited-overs opener struggled in his foray into the longest format of the game where he failed to score a century in the 11 Tests that he played since his debut against South Africa in the Boxing Day Test in 2015. However, the 2017 season has seen move to the middle-order for Nottinghamshire and be an impressive performer in their bid to earn promotion to Division One.
In the seven matches, that he has played this season, he is averaging nearly 50. That coupled with the goodwill that he has earned from his limited-overs performances should have been enough for him to earn a recall back to the Test side. Especially considering the fact that there were no real outstanding candidates for the middle-order slots and Tom Westley was on his way out. But unfortunately, the selectors went with James Vince and have placed their faith on Dawid Malan and Gary Ballance to come good Down Under ahead of Hales.