Alex Hales      

There was no doubting the yearning when Alex Hales made his ODI debut for England against India at Cardiff. If English cricket was still not debating the enforced removal of Kevin Pietersen from international cricket, it was arguing over the conservative approach towards one-day batting at the top of the order. Hales, a tall batsman with a destructive range of drives and cuts, was seen as a player who could potentially change the conversation into something more positive.

It had taken 32 international Twenty20 appearances - strikingly good figures, too, with an average of 38 and a strike rate approaching 140 - before Hales finally won ODI recognition from England selectors who mistrusted his technique against the short ball and his ability to build an innings. He had been part of England's ODI squad to the West Indies earlier in the year but missed out on a debut through injury. But on this occasion three one-day hundreds in as many weeks for Nottinghamshire, including a 96-ball 141 against Middlesex, added to the clamour for his selection. The time was ripe, although his initial returns were modest - a couple of 40s against India in four attempts.

A year earlier, things looked very different. Following a disastrous Championship season in which Hales virtually lost interest and averaged 13.94, he was advised by England that he was in danger of becoming a two-dimensional Twenty20 specialist. He decided to work harder on his four-day cricket - although only after he was overlooked in the IPL 2014 draft. English players were often passed over, with availability often uncertain, but this omission was more curious than many.

At 6 foot 5, Hales hits with a stately intent. His England T20 debut came in 2011, to which he responded after a debut duck against India by scoring an unbeaten 62 off 48 balls as England beat West Indies at the Oval. In his first Twenty20 international of 2012, against West Indies again, he failed by one run to become the first batsman to score a century for England in the short format on his home ground of Trent Bridge, in June. He promised much in a largely ill-starred England campaign in the 2012 World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka, although his innings tended to run out of steam. That first hundred by an England batsman finally came in the 2013 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh when he made an unbeaten 116 from 64 balls against Sri Lanka in Chittagong, striking a six over midwicket to secure a last-over victory.

Hales' short-form prowess was evident when he top-scored for Nottinghamshire in the 2011 Friends Life t20 with 544 runs at 34 and a strike-rate of 146. His reputation in T20 cricket grew and he earned a late deal with Melbourne Renegades for two matches of the 2012/13 Big Bash. His debut brought a brutal 89 in just 52 balls at the SCG.

In four-day cricket he initially progressed well, earning his county cap after scoring 184 against Somerset at Trent Bridge on his way to topping 1,000 first-class runs in the season for the first time, despite missing almost seven weeks of the campaign with a broken jaw. He added 857 first-class runs in 2012, including two centuries in August and put right his miserable 2013 with 954 runs at 50 in 2014.

Sporting talent is in his genes, as his grandfather once took Rod Laver to five sets at Wimbledon.
ESPNcricinfo staff