England vs Australia 2015: Alex Hales must be dropped following repeated failures

There was a huge buzz surrounding Alex Hales after the latter struck six sixes for Nottinghamshire in a domestic T20 game. The English media and fans were unanimous in their calls to reinstate Hales in the One-Day International (ODI) team. However, the opener has once again disappointed with the bat at the international level, and deserves to get the axe in favour of more worthy candidates. England selectors must remove Hales as soon as they find a suitable prospect for the opener’s position in the ODI format. England vs Australia 2015: Cricket’s most celebrated rivalry deserves better contests

All hell broke loose when Alex Hales smashed six sixes in an over during Natwest T20 Blast group stage game for Nottinghamshire against Birmingham Bears. The English media went wild in their protests of the fact that Hales was dropped from the ODI side during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. They painted him as a figure that could have single-handedly bettered England’s fortunes had he played more games in the tournament. All of a sudden, there was widespread criticism of the selectors for having dropped Hales. ALSO READ: England vs Australia 2015, ODI series: England marks out of 10

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It was as conveniently forgotten that Hales had been given adequate opportunity wherein he constantly underperformed. At the time he was dropped, his average was a paltry 21.11. His shoddy average may be attributed to the pressure of playing international cricket. But no matter what the reason is, a team can’t afford to repeatedly risk their chances by giving a player multiple chances based solely on talent. VIDEO: Trevor Bayliss assesses England after ODI series loss

Nevertheless, Hales was given yet another shot when he was selected for the five-match ODI series against New Zealand. In the five matches, he did fairly well without being outstanding. He was persisted with for the five-match ODI series against Australia. In none of the five games did Hales show any semblance of the hero he was made out to be.

Match after match he grew increasingly scratchy and his form slumped further with every game. In all of five innings he scored just 53 runs at an unacceptable average of 10.60. While cricket is a team sport, individual performances impact the team, and Hales, in no small part, can be blamed for England’s 2-3 defeat in the series. Alastair Cook’s opening partner a dilemma for England, feels Trevor Bayliss

Hales may have immense potential, but the fact remains that at the end of 20 ODIs the Nottinghamshire opener has just 408 runs to his name at a largely unimpressive average of 21.47. It is possible that Hales has simply not come to terms with the pressures of ODI cricket, but that can’t be held as an excuse to persist with him as it is not definite when he will establish himself in the international circuit.

In a system with 18 domestic teams, there are a minimum of 36 openers, majority of whom will be keen to play in national colours. In such a scenario, to keep sticking with one player on basis of what he could do rather that what he does, will be injustice to the others in the ranks. England must move on from Hales.

(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RDcric on Twitter)