Hales turns back on Test cricket

LONDON: Alex Hales announced on Tuesday he is turning his back on Test cricket after signing a new limited-overs contract with county side Nottinghamshire following a similar decision by England team-mate Adil Rashid.

Rashid last week said he intended to focus solely on shorter, white-ball cricket for Yorkshire this season and Hales has penned a deal until the end of the 2019 season that will see him feature only in 50-over and 20-over formats of the game.

Hales’s decision is likely to strengthen fears that England’s top limited-overs internationals could abandon first class, or red-ball, cricket, which includes five-day Test matches, in favour of playing in lucrative domestic Twenty20 competitions around the world.

His decision seemingly ends his hopes of adding to his 11 Test caps, the last of which he earned in August 2016.“For the next 18 months I’m excited to focus entirely on limited overs cricket and want to be part of a Notts team that retains the white ball double and a World Cup winning squad with England,” he said in a statement on Twitter.