Alex Hales has announced his retirement from international cricket.


Alex Hales has announced his retirement from international cricket, which will take effect immediately. The England batter has called it quits after an almost 12-year international career.

It has been an absolute privilege to have represented my country on 156 occasions across all three formats," Hales said, "and I've made some memories and friendships to last a lifetime.

Hales made his England debut in a T20I against India in August 2011, and has since played in 75 T20Is, 70 ODIs, and 11 Tests. His greatest success came in the T20 format, when he thrived with his aggressive style of play, falling just one run short of England's first T20I century in 2012.

Hales retires from international cricket as a T20 World Champion, having contributed significantly to England's winning campaign in 2022, striking a remarkable 86* in the semi-final against India to propel his team to the final.

This confirms Hales' availability for franchise cricket across the world and allows him the freedom to commit to his franchises. Hales missed England's trip of Bangladesh earlier this year to play in the Pakistan Super League, and he was expected to do so again later this month.

Hales holds the distinction of being the leading scorer in two of England's biggest ODI totals before 2022: 171 of his team's 444 against Pakistan in 2016, and 147 of England's 481 against Australia in 2018. Since then, England has scored 498 points against the Netherlands using an XI that did not feature Hales.

Hales was formerly the No. 1 T20 batter in the world, and he is still one of the most sought-after T20 batters in the world, having played 405 T20s for 10 teams and England, amassing over 11,000 runs at a fantastic strike-rate of 147.

Hales concludes his England career with 2419 ODI runs at 37.79, including six hundreds, and is one of three individuals to amass more than 2000 T20I runs for England, with his sole century coming against a Sri Lanka team containing Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga at the 2014 World T20.