Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes a ‘few chinks’ in Alex Hales’ Twenty20 game cost him a lucrative contract at the Indian Premier League.
Hales scored 22 in England’s opening Tri-Series match against Australia in Hobart before he was dismissed by Ashton Agar. His average against left-arm spin in international cricket is just 8.5.
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The 29-year-old then dropped Glenn Maxwell on 40, before the Australian smashed a 58-ball century as the hosts made light work of England’s 155-9.
Hales has developed into a key player for England in limited-overs cricket but went unsold at the auction for the 2018 IPL last month.
While the likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes and Sam Billings all bagged lucrative deals with franchises, Hales failed to attract substantial interest.
‘There’s just a few little chinks there in Alex Hales’ T20 armoury,’ Vaughan told BT Sport after England’s five-wicket defeat.
“His long distance out-fielding is way below the mark.”
“Averaging 8.5 against left-arm spin, a couple of catches gone down, and probably the reason he didn’t get an IPL contract.”
Michael Vaughan and Graeme Swann look at the performance of Alex Hales. pic.twitter.com/Q8nyt4dqVF
— Cricket on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) February 7, 2018
‘We’ve always known him as a tremendous batsman but we’ve mentioned his stats against left-arm spin.
‘That’s a couple of catches gone down and that’s probably the reason he didn’t get an IPL contract.’
Graeme Swann, the former England spinner, added: ‘He’s dropped two now, he needs to get back out on the practice ground and take some high balls.
‘He focuses so much on his batting and he’s never been a huge trainer, it’s a side to the game he doesn’t like. His long-distance fielding is well below the mark.’
England were well-placed on 95-3 at the halfway stage but then lost six wickets for just 43 runs.
Dawid Malan (50), Eoin Morgan (22) and Hales (22) were unable to push on after promising starts and England appeared at least 30 short of a competitive total.
They made two early breakthroughs, however, with David Willey dismissing David Warner and Chris Lynn in the first over of Australia’s innings.
Other than Maxwell, only one Australian passed single figures but the century – which included 14 boundaries – took the game away from Eoin Morgan’s side.
The England skipper said: ‘We got off to a reasonable start but losing six wickets for 30 or 40 runs cost us.
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‘The risks we took were right, but the execution of the shots wasn’t. We were 30 or 40 runs short.’
Maxwell, meanwhile, who brought up his ton by hitting a six to score the winning runs, said: ‘It’s been great to transfer my Sheffield Shield form into the Big Bash and now this tri-series. That’s the most pleasing aspect for me.
‘I told Carey to get two off the first ball because I didn’t have much left, but he gloved one and told me to go and get the hundred.’
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Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes a ‘few chinks’ in Alex Hales’ Twenty20 game cost him a lucrative contract at the Indian Premier League.
Hales scored 22 in England’s opening Tri-Series match against Australia in Hobart before he was dismissed by Ashton Agar. His average against left-arm spin in international cricket is just 8.5.
Glenn McGrath names the player he wants to see in England's Test team
The 29-year-old then dropped Glenn Maxwell on 40, before the Australian smashed a 58-ball century as the hosts made light work of England’s 155-9.
Hales has developed into a key player for England in limited-overs cricket but went unsold at the auction for the 2018 IPL last month.
While the likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes and Sam Billings all bagged lucrative deals with franchises, Hales failed to attract substantial interest.
‘There’s just a few little chinks there in Alex Hales’ T20 armoury,’ Vaughan told BT Sport after England’s five-wicket defeat.
“His long distance out-fielding is way below the mark.”
“Averaging 8.5 against left-arm spin, a couple of catches gone down, and probably the reason he didn’t get an IPL contract.”
Michael Vaughan and Graeme Swann look at the performance of Alex Hales. pic.twitter.com/Q8nyt4dqVF
— Cricket on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) February 7, 2018
‘We’ve always known him as a tremendous batsman but we’ve mentioned his stats against left-arm spin.
‘That’s a couple of catches gone down and that’s probably the reason he didn’t get an IPL contract.’
Graeme Swann, the former England spinner, added: ‘He’s dropped two now, he needs to get back out on the practice ground and take some high balls.
‘He focuses so much on his batting and he’s never been a huge trainer, it’s a side to the game he doesn’t like. His long-distance fielding is well below the mark.’
England were well-placed on 95-3 at the halfway stage but then lost six wickets for just 43 runs.
Dawid Malan (50), Eoin Morgan (22) and Hales (22) were unable to push on after promising starts and England appeared at least 30 short of a competitive total.
They made two early breakthroughs, however, with David Willey dismissing David Warner and Chris Lynn in the first over of Australia’s innings.
Other than Maxwell, only one Australian passed single figures but the century – which included 14 boundaries – took the game away from Eoin Morgan’s side.
The England skipper said: ‘We got off to a reasonable start but losing six wickets for 30 or 40 runs cost us.
More: Cricket
‘The risks we took were right, but the execution of the shots wasn’t. We were 30 or 40 runs short.’
Maxwell, meanwhile, who brought up his ton by hitting a six to score the winning runs, said: ‘It’s been great to transfer my Sheffield Shield form into the Big Bash and now this tri-series. That’s the most pleasing aspect for me.
‘I told Carey to get two off the first ball because I didn’t have much left, but he gloved one and told me to go and get the hundred.’
MORE: Australia legend Glenn McGrath backs Jason Roy for England Test place
