Hales tunes out calls to come in from shadows for England

If Alex Hales' recent form for the Sydney Thunder has generated a buzz around his possible recall to England's T20 line-up, then it hasn’t reached the ears of the man in question.

Partly, that's because Hales has made a point of tuning out of social media channels where the discussion is being promulgated by the likes of former England captain, Michael Vaughan.

But it's also a by-product of remaining on the outer since off-field matters led to his axing from England's white-ball outfits two years ago, which meant he was an onlooker when Eoin Morgan led the nation to their maiden ICC World Cup triumph at Lord's 18 months ago.

Vaughan took to Twitter in the wake of Hales's 54 from 33 balls in the first Sydney Smash encounter of BBL|10 nine days ago, noting the 32-year-old deserved a recall if an opportunity arose in England's T20 team with the next World Cup of that format to be played in India later this year.

After Hales blasted his first KFC BBL century at the Adelaide Oval last night – also against the Thunder's home-town rivals, Sydney Sixers – and finished with 110 from 56 balls in his team's record total, Vaughan repeated his refrain on his favourite forum.

However, Hales claimed he was paying no attention to any discussions about a possible England recall and was instead focused on two immediate goals – gaining maximum enjoyment from his cricket, and lifting the Thunder into the BBL|10 finals race.

"He loves his Twitter," Hales said with a smile when asked about Vaughan championing his cause.

"I learned to sort of avoid social media, to be honest.

"It was something I used to look at a lot, but I just want to focus on enjoying my cricket and contributing to winning teams.

"If I get another crack at international level then great, and if not then I'm going to keep enjoying cricket.

"At the moment, I'm not thinking about it."

It also appears England's brains trust aren't immediately thinking of a change of heart, with national selector Ed Smith indicating this week – prior to Hales' stunning century – that an imminent recall is unlikely.

"At the moment, I would expect things to stay as they are," Smith said when asked about the prospect of Hales returning for the T20 leg of England's upcoming tour to India.

"No doors are closed in terms of a final decision and it's not that it's going to be the same indefinitely.

"But, if I were to make a prediction, I'd say we will stay as we are."

Smith refuted suggestions Hales would find it difficult to return to the line-up while Morgan was captain, even though the skipper has previously noted the hard-hitting opener had betrayed the team's trust by keeping secret a second positive test for recreational drugs in 2019.

And if Hales continues to put in performances like his imperious innings at Adelaide Oval, where he played a season for Adelaide Strikers in BBL|04, then his case for inclusion will become stronger regardless of the indiscretions in his past.

The tall right-hander claimed last night he was in the best form of a career that netted him 11 Test appearances, 70 ODIs and 60 T20 Internationals for England before being cut from the team.

"This is definitely the best I've played, I feel like it's in the peak of my career," Hales said, having overtaken Sixers opener Josh Philippe to become the BKT Golden Bat as leading runs scorer for BBL|10.

"I'm 32 now and I feel like I know my game really well, and I'm just going to keep looking to impress whenever I get a chance.

"Particularly in T20 cricket, the older you get the more you understand what your strengths are.

"I think the experience you get in T20, playing in different conditions, you're always improving and I guess since I've stopped playing red-ball cricket (in 2017) it's given me a lot more time to focus on my white-ball skills.

"This season with the Thunder, I've had a few 40s and then given it away with a soft dismissal, so to go on tonight and make that really big score was really pleasing, and it's a crucial time in the tournament.

"Hopefully we can take that into the next few games and qualify for finals."

On the back of Hales' hundred and their historic total of 5-232 – which led to a 46-run win over the Sixers after three consecutive losses – the Thunder have climbed into third position with two regular-season matches to play.

The fact that both of those come in consecutive days (Sunday and Monday) against the Strikers on their home turf might previously have been viewed as a disadvantage to the Sydney team.

However, Hales' form in posting his highest BBL score on a pitch that has now produced two individual hundreds in as many games – Adelaide's Alex Carey claimed the first century of BBL|10 on Thursday night – means the Thunder enter those two fixtures high on confidence.

"I'm not complaining about that at all," Hales said of the COVID-related scheduling quirk that means the Thunder play a 'home' game against the Strikers at Adelaide Oval on Sunday before a return bout at the same venue the following day.

"Obviously it's the Strikers home ground, but it's an awesome place to play cricket

"When you get in, it's such a good place to bat – great value for good cricket shots, fast outfield and fairly smallish square boundaries.

"So I'm looking forward to it being a packed house, and looking forward to the challenge of the next two games."