Hales ton another one-day tick for England

It has been a year since England embarked on a one-day tour to Sri Lanka in which they hoped to build some confidence and stability ahead of the World Cup. As history shows that did not go too well. Alastair Cook, the captain for that trip, was stripped of the job on his return with Eoin Morgan hastily handed the reins, various plans were ripped up and redrawn and then the World Cup itself was a disaster: a group stage exit.

That Sri Lanka tour was pretty forgettable for Alex Hales. He played three matches and made just 34 runs as England continually scratched their heads about what to do at the top of the order. Even when Cook made way, it was not Hales who earned a promotion. Ian Bell opened alongside Moeen Ali at the World Cup until England were faced with a must-win match against Bangladesh where upon it was 'over to you Alex'.

He made 27 in the game in Adelaide where England crashed out and 37 in a rain-ruined miserable affair against Afghanistan in Sydney before the squad slunked home. The team had bottomed out and since then the rebuilding has been impressive with a series win against New Zealand, a hard-fought 3-2 loss against Australia, and now a further sign in their development with the series-levelling victory in Abu Dhabi.

Hales' maiden one-day century was the central plank to that win, a composed 109 off 117 balls which helped make the most of batting conditions at their best. The way England laboured in their final 10 overs and the way Pakistan struggled in the chase went to highlight the quality of the Hales' innings.

It was timely, to say the least, for Hales. In his previous seven ODI innings his top score had been 22 as his one-day career threatened to stall again, despite there now being a clear opportunity for him at the top of the order. He is capable of much more destructive innings than Friday's, but it was for exactly that reason that the century was impressive - not least the way he combated Yasir Shah who he took for 36 off the 28 balls he faced, including two sixes in an over.

"Halesy is a talent that can do things other people can't, and that's the kind of guy you want in your team," Paul Collingwood, who is part of the one-day coaching staff, said.

Then there is what lies ahead after the remaining two matches of this series and the three T20s which complete the tour. Hales is set to be the man tasked with being Cook's next opening partner in the Test team, a pairing that never bedded in for the 50-over format but is now likely to be the eighth Test combination used in three years.

The new England regime are keen for white-ball formats not to influence decisions over the longer game, but they can never be completely divorced. It is probable that Hales would have been given the role in South Africa regardless of how many runs he scored in the UAE (why take him in the previous Test squad otherwise?) but runs will make the task easier for both parties. The selectors won't be picking on blind faith, while Hales' confidence will be lifted regardless of the fact conditions in South Africa will be vastly different.

"You've got to find your way to score runs at that level," Collingwood said. "He's shown he's got the temperament, mentality to be really aggressive in one-day cricket - and the mental side of the game is pretty much 90% of playing cricket. He's shown he had the guts in this innings to turn it around, and play so well - so Test cricket, why not?''