He'll be hard to keep out of the ODI squad: England coach on Alex Hales

Hales has been terrific form since the World Cup [Source: Twitter]

England white-ball coach, Matthew Mott has stated that Alex Hales will be hard to keep out of the ODI squad, if he continues his rich vein of form in T20Is.

Hales made his long awaited return to the England T20I squad last year ahead of the T20 World Cup. But he is not included in the ODI squad for the upcoming South Africa series, which starts from January 27.

"To me, white-ball cricket is white-ball cricket. He's shown he's not a slogger of the ball. He's a proper cricketer and there's absolutely no reason why he couldn't get in that 50-over team," Mott said to Sky Sports.

"We've got some tough selections coming up, and we don't play a lot of one-day cricket, but I'm sure if he keeps in this rich vein of form he'll be hard to keep out."

Meanwhile, Hales continues his exploits in the T20 format. He recently smashed the first-ever hundred in the inaugural ILT20 competition, and is constantly knocking the doors of the selectors.

He had a redemption saga last year. Before getting called-up to the England squad for the Pakistan series and T20 World Cup, the 34-year-old had not played for the Three Lions since 2019 due to disciplinary issues.

However, Hales was called back to the national side in the absence of Jonny Bairstow and the right-handed batter hasn't looked back since then.

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