Alex Hales retires from international cricket with immediate effect

In a shocking turn of events, Alex Hales has decided to call it a day from international cricket altogether after playing a key role in England’s T20 World Cup win in Australia last year. England’s win over Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last November will now be Hales’ last international match for England.

"It has been an absolute privilege to have represented my country on 156 occasions across all three formats," Hales said in a statement on Instagram. "l've made some memories and some friendships to last a lifetime and I feel that now is the right time to move on.

"Throughout my time in an England shirt I've experienced some of the highest highs and some of the lowest lows. It's been an incredible journey and I feel very content that my last game for England was winning a World Cup final."

Hales, who made a return to the English set-up last year following Eoin Morgan’s retirement, wasn’t part of England's T20I series in Bangladesh and instead decided to continue with his PSL commitments. If his CPL deal goes ahead, that would have potentially clashed with England's home T20I series against New Zealand.

Even though his talent was never in doubt, disciplinary issues continued to be a challenge for Hales as far as his international career was concerned. First, he was banned in late 2017 after being involved in a brawl incident that had him and Ben Stokes banned, but later, he was cleared of affray. 

When he was considered a totem in an England limited-overs line-up that was about to disrupt the world, he was suspended again for what was then described by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as an “off-field incident”. 

In November 2021, when a photo showing him wearing black make-up was published, he apologized for "all the offence" he had caused. But he had already lost the trust of the management and Morgan made sure that the Nottinghamshire batter could never come close to the England dressing room once again during his tenure.

He continued to pile runs at every possible opportunity, and between 2019 and his return to the national fold, Hales amassed 4486 T20 runs at an average of 33.48 and a scarcely believable strike rate of 154.7. That landed him a spot in the national side once again, especially when Jos Buttler took over England's white-ball captaincy. 

Hales played a crucial role in England winning the 2022 T20 World Cup, which has now become his last international commitment.