Alex Hales, the Nottinghamshire & England batsman whose 171 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge broke England’s all-time record ODI score, says he couldn’t have picked a better venue to achieve the feat.
Hales says tonight’s events, with England posting a world record One-Day International score of 444-3 and Jos Buttler posting his country’s fastest ever half-century, confirms that special things happen at the Nottinghamshire venue.
“This would be the ground of choice, being my home ground,” he said. “Every international game I’ve played here has been a special occasion. “They’re usually packed with runs and there’s always a great atmosphere. Tonight was no different and it’s an incredibly good feeling.
“The way we’re moving forward as a team, who knows how long that record will last.
“There’s guys batting all the way down to ten or eleven who can clear the ropes, so it’s a really exciting time for us as a team.
“I guess 50-over cricket is almost becoming a longer version of T20, with the fielding restrictions in the middle overs and the way the guys can clear the ropes now.
“It’s a really exciting prospect, over the next couple of years, what we can achieve as a team.
“The way we’re progressing as a batting unit, I think we haven’t actually reached our peak yet as players.
“There’s a lot of guys in there in their mid-20s, whose best years are probably still yet to come. That’s even more exciting for us moving forward.”
Hales, who bounced back to form in style following an Investec Test series against the same opposition in which he averaged 18, hopes this record breaking score can help him move on from a testing period.
“It has been a tough few weeks for me, personally,” he added.
“The Test series obviously didn’t go to plan, but when it comes to the white ball I’ve felt in good form over the last 12 months.
“I was always confident heading into this series that I could post some big scores.
“There were a few loose shots in the first couple of games, but I guess that can happen in one-day cricket. It’s nice to put it right tonight.
“I’ve had plenty of ups and downs. Obviously, I had a good time against Sri Lanka and then didn’t do myself justice against Pakistan. It was a tough series and I didn’t perform as well as I know I can.
“There’s been a lot of highs and a lot of lows. Obviously the Oval Test match didn’t particularly help that. It’s nice to sweep that under the rug and move forward.
“There’s still two more big games in this series – and hopefully I can contribute.”
“They’re not going to do you any harm, that’s for sure,” said Hales on the prospect of his ODI runs paving the way for retaining his place in England’s Test team.
“But I guess at the top of the order, they’re two very different games – red ball and white ball cricket.
“All I can do is score as many runs in the remaining games as I can, and try to keep myself in contention for that spot.
“You always want to be optimistic about stuff like that. Hopefully they back me.
“I guess when it came to 50-over cricket, it took me over 20 games to cement that spot, so hopefully they stick with me.”
Trent Bridge will host an Investec Test Match between England and South Africa, and a Royal London One-Day International visit from the West Indies, in 2017.
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