Nottinghamshire batsman Alex Hales has never been more excited about a Twenty20 competition than he is about this year's NatWest T20 Blast.

The 26-year-old, who is ranked third in the ICC World Rankings for international T20, believes Notts have assembled their best ever squad ahead of the tournament - and he is expecting crowds to flock to Trent Bridge to watch the Outlaws in action.

"The squad we've got this year is the best I've been part of since being at Nottinghamshire," said Hales speaking at the national media launch of NatWest T20 Blast 2015 at Edgbaston.

"The fact that we've got an overseas seamer in Ben Hilfenhaus will help us. He's got a great deal of IPL and Big Bash experience.

"And also the addition of Darren Sammy - he'll add a bit of liveliness to our changing room and a bit of flair as well, and I think that's something we will need.

"If you look down our batting order we've got class everywhere and the addition of Brendan Taylor brings even more international experience.

"We're aiming, like always, to progress in this competition and on 15 May against Birmingham Bears we'll be looking to get off to a great start.

"From a personal point of view, Twenty20 is probably my strongest format," Hales continued. 

"It's a form of the game that has always come natural to me because as a kid I batted in the middle-order and always looked to play attacking cricket."

Hales, who has 23 Twenty20 fifties to his name and a strike-rate of 139.50, has played the shortest format of the game for three Australian Big Bash franchises as well as the Nottinghamshire Outlaws.

The Buckinghamshire born batsman has been enriched by his experiences down under, but now he's looking forward to focusing on the English domestic tournament once again.

"The Big Bash is a fantastic competition," he said. "I've been there three years in a row and I've really enjoyed playing it every time.

"Over there they do have less teams, so the standard is fantastic.

"But if you look around the English game this year, the quality of overseas players is brilliant - and we're lucky at Trent Bridge because we regularly get big crowds on Friday nights of up above 10000 - so this is definitely as excited as I've ever been for a Twenty20 campaign."

If Hales can turn his excitement into runs during the 2015 NatWest T20 Blast competition, the 42 time England international hopes it will pave the way for an extended period at the top of the England batting order in limited-overs cricket. 

If it happens, Hales, who has scored seven List A centuries for Nottinghamshire and one for the England Lions, will be aiming to learn from the ICC Cricket World Cup and reinvent England's approach to batting in one-day cricket.

"One of my targets is to nail down that spot in the ODI team at the top of the order," he said. "That's going to come from playing well for Notts, particularly in this competition and in first-class cricket.

"I did get my chance towards the end of the World Cup and I'm bitterly disappointed that I didn't make a match winning score. Looking forward, hopefully I'll get a chance to do that this summer.

"I do think there is room for conventional play at the top of the order as the two white balls swing quite a bit. But once that swing went, from overs 20 to 50, it just seemed to be absolute carnage where Twenty20 skills were coming to the forefront.

"Guys like the Australians and the Kiwis in the middle overs have no fear about pumping seamers back over their heads.

"Maybe we did play with that fear in the middle overs and didn't hit enough boundaries. 

"It's something historically English players have struggled with and something we're going to have to get better at if we want to compete with the top teams."

 

The excitement of the NatWest T20 Blast returns to Trent Bridge in May as Notts Outlaws hope to break the 10,000 barrier for the arrival of reigning champions Birmingham Bears on Friday 15 May.

Adult tickets are available at a special price of £10 and further discounts in place for under 16s (£5), under21s (£7) and senior citizens (£7) when buying in advance. Make Trent Bridge a firm fixture for your Friday nights and secure your seats now.