Despite winning an LV= County Championship medal in his first full season in the Nottinghamshire side Alex Hales didn’t rest on his laurels last summer and advanced his game with three important milestones.

Having scored 184 against Somerset at Trent Bridge he was awarded his county cap. Those runs helped him towards achieving 1,000 in the season for the first time and, after making his debut for the England Lions he was further promoted by appearing in his first full Twenty20 International against India at Old Trafford.

The tall, hard-hitting right-handed batsman had shown glimpses of his potential with a glut of runs in the Nottinghamshire seconds, after arriving from the MCC Young Cricketers. That potential is now being converted into some of the finest innings seen by a young Nottinghamshire batsman for many years.

In domestic Twenty20 matches he has consistently helped Notts get away to a flying start with his aggressive, controlled approach and he bounced back from the disappointment of a duck on his international debut by following it up with an unbeaten 62 at The Kia Oval against the West Indies.

During this past winter he gained valuable experience on tours to India, Bangladesh, Abu Dhabi and Barbados.