Would have chucked all my eggs into T20 basket as a 21-year-old, claims Alex Hales

Alex Hales, known to be an attacking opener, recently hung his boots in international cricket. The cricketer represented the English team in 156 fixtures but was always in and out of the team. The English batter already has diverse experience playing in various T20 leagues and would continue playing league cricket in the future. 

Reflecting on his decision, Alex Hales stated that in hindsight, he would have liked to focus only on T20 cricket like Somerset batter Will Smeed if he would have been coming through as a 21-year-old. 

"Just with the way I play, and my instincts and my technique, I would've chucked my eggs into the T20 basket - for sure. I would do a Will Smeed - and fair play to him for doing that. It's a bold decision. Hopefully, it works out for him,” Hales told Michael Atherton in an interview with Sky Sports. 

“I think the way the game is now, you're seeing fewer and fewer people who are exceptional at all three formats. There's obviously a select handful who are brilliant at all three, but you see the way the game has gone - especially the last sort of five years - you see more and more specialists.”

Hales was an attacking batter while playing for Nottinghamshire in red-ball cricket with a first-class strike rate of 59.06. However, the higher level of competition in international cricket led the number to dip to 43.84 in his brief run in Test cricket. Looking back at his Test career, Hales stated that the middle order would have been the more suitable option for him to bat in red-ball cricket. 

"Maybe, looking back, if I could have gone about it in my natural way, I may have had a bit more success. I actually think I may have been more suited to the middle order... I've always sort of been pushed up to open the batting, maybe against what would suit my natural games. Had I got a crack now, amongst the Bazball stuff? Who knows?” he explained.