Hales savours new high in summer of 'ups and downs'

There are ways to move on from "a tough few weeks", as Alex Hales summed up his recent difficulties, then there is what he managed at Trent Bridge.

In his previous 10 innings against Pakistan this season - eight in the Tests and then the first two ODIs - he had made 166 runs, plus an angry visit to the match referee's office. In the space of 122 deliveries in Nottinghamshire, he plundered 171, England's highest ODI innings, to break the 23-year-old record of Robin Smith who made an unbeaten 167 against Australia, at Edgbaston, in 1993.

Although Hales began this series slowly, with scores of 7 and 14, his one-day form has been impressive for much of the year. He made five consecutive fifty-plus scores against South Africa then hit an unbeaten 133 against Sri Lanka, at Edgbaston, when he and Jason Roy, who also came close to breaking Smith's record against Sri Lanka at The Oval with 162, put on a record 256.

"It's been a tough few weeks personally. The Test series didn't go to plan but when it comes to the white ball in the last 12 months I've felt in good form," Hales said. "I was always confident heading into this series and it's nice to put it right tonight. The summer has had plenty of ups and downs.

"I did well against Sri Lanka but didn't do myself justice against Pakistan. It's nice to try and sweep that under the rug and try to move forwards."

Hales' place in the Test side is under scrutiny ahead of the Bangladesh tour - a trip which he admitted remained on his mind as he weighed up whether to travel amid the security situation - but while he is wary of linking his one-day runs to his five-day future, he did say how it had also taken him some time to settle in 50-over cricket.

It was not until his 11th ODI innings that he made a half-century and it was his 21st when his maiden century came, against Pakistan, in Abu Dhabi last year.

"They're two very different games, red-ball and white-ball cricket. All I can do is try to score as many runs as I can in the remaining games and keep myself in contention for that spot. Hopefully they back me. It was a tough series but when it came to 50-over cricket it took me 20 games to cement my spot."

Hales was given a life in his innings, on 72, when he pulled Wahab Riaz to deep square leg, only for the TV umpire to indicate, via the trial method of him calling no-balls, that Wahab had overstepped.

It was one of a litany of errors by Pakistan which began with a misfield in the opening over of the day. Captain Azhar Ali admitted it was a dire performance which allowed England to rack up a world-record 444 for 3.

"We didn't start well in the field. Once you have three or four fielding lapses straight away it doesn't send a good message," Azhar said. "We didn't set a good tone to start with. There's no excuse for that.

"It's basic stuff. You expect to field well in every game. We need to raise in all aspects of the game; batting, bowling and fielding. There were lapses everywhere.

"The wicket was really good and there were lots of runs in it, but 444 is a bit too much. A few no-balls and fielding lapses really cost us. Once the batsmen start going, it is hard to stop them. In the key times we missed chances, especially the wicket of Hales on 70."

Throughout the early matches of this series the Pakistan players, including the captain, have insisted that they are better than their No. 9 ranking would suggest, but Azhar conceded it is a hard argument to sustain after such a defeat.

"I still believe that we are not that bad but we need to learn quickly otherwise we'll prove ourselves wrong."

They have two matches left to regain some pride, but with England in such form it is hard to see anything other than a whitewash.