Alex Hales, one of the stars of England’s T20 World Cup triumph, will miss the tour of Bangladesh to play franchise cricket in Pakistan and honour a lucrative £145,000 contract.
Hales returned to the England team for the first time since 2019 — when he failed a recreational drugs test and was dropped for the ODI World Cup — to play a crucial role in the T20 World Cup victory in Australia in November.
He hit 186 runs in England’s last four games, including 86 not out off 47 balls during the 10-wicket victory over India in the semi-final in Adelaide.
But Hales is now set to miss the tour of Bangladesh, England’s first T20 action since the World Cup. Instead, he will remain committed to his contract with Islamabad United in the PSL. Hales was signed as a platinum pick, and stands to earn upwards of £145,000 for the competition.
To leave a portion of the PSL and represent England in Bangladesh, Hales would lose a large amount of money. England match fees for players who do not have national contracts are around £5,000 and £2,500 for ODIs and T20Is, respectively, considerably less than franchise payments.
England play three T20Is and three ODIs in Bangladesh from March 1-14, and although Hales remains firmly in the national team’s plans going forward, he has chosen to stick with his franchise commitments over duty for his country.
England are understanding of the situation and have not put pressure on Hales. Indeed, the national team have become increasingly aware that the franchise circuit now pays more, with a number of players who would have been picked for the Lions this winter not selected so that they could play in overseas leagues instead.
Rob Key, England’s managing director, and Mo Bobat, the performance director, have taken a pragmatic approach to overseas leagues. They recognise it is unfair to demand that players without the certainty of national contracts lose money to represent their country.
For all the challenges it can present in terms of national selection, franchise cricket is also valued for giving players access to high-quality cricket.
The circumstances are particularly unusual in the case of Hales, who looked unlikely to play for England again until an injury to Jonny Bairstow granted him a recall to the T20 World Cup squad, for whom he had not previously been selected.
The Daily Telegraph in London