Alex Hales says he is starting to feel at home at top of England order
'As an opener if you get yourself in you want to cash in and get hundreds. But I feel like I’m growing in confidence'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Alex Hales said he was starting to feel at home as a Test opener despite again missing out on a maiden century at this level in Durham on Friday.
Hales top-scored with 83 as England closed the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in a strong position on 310 for 6. Coming as it did following his Test-best score of 86 at Headingley last week, Hales has made significant strides since a winter that saw him average just 17 in his debut series in South Africa.
The 27-year-old is captain Alastair Cook’s eighth opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012. And while Cook is still five runs shy of becoming the first Englishman to reach 10,000 Test runs following his dismissal for 15 yesterday, Hales produced another accomplished innings to suggest he could be the solution to what has been a long-term problem position for England.
“I was frustrated,” said Hales. “As an opener if you get yourself in and do the hard yards you want to be cashing in and getting those hundreds. But I feel like I’m growing in confidence and improving every day as a red-ball cricketer. Hopefully I can keep doing that for the rest of the summer.
“I can’t get complacent because it was only a couple of games ago I was averaging 17 and there were questions over my spot. At the same time I feel in good touch. I’ve learned a lot from that winter but I still have a lot to prove.”
Hales believes England, who will start the second day with Moeen Ai and Chris Woakes at the crease, are in a strong position in this Test but insists there is still work to be done in this first innings to set up a series-sealing win.
“I think we probably just shaded it,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of starts and could have kicked on to bigger scores but I think if we can get through the first hour [on Saturday] that’ll be important and we can hopefully push on to 450 which is a pretty good score on this pitch.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments