Alex Hales tipped for England Test place by Paul Collingwood
Saturday 14 November 2015 11:07, UK
Paul Collingwood believes Alex Hales could earn a place in the England Test team after starring for the one-day side in their victory over Pakistan on Friday.
Hales hit 109 in the second one-day international in Abu Dhabi as England made 283-5 before bowling out Pakistan for 188 to level the four-match series at 1-1.
England were beaten 2-0 by Pakistan in the preceding Test series - when Moeen Ali opened the batting alongside Alastair Cook - and limited overs consultant Collingwood reckons there is no reason why the Nottinghamshire batsman cannot feature in the longer format of the game for his country.
Asked on Sky Sports News HQ if Hales could make his way into the Test team, former England all-rounder Collingwood replied: "Yeah, quite possibly.
"You've got to find a way to score runs at that level and he's shown that he's got the temperament and the mentality to be really aggressive in one-day cricket and that works for him."
Hales scored 10 in the first ODI as England lost by six wickets but Collingwood praised the way he responded in the second match.
"The mental side of the game is pretty much 90 per cent of playing cricket," said Collingwood.
"He's shown that he's had the guts in this innings to turn it around and play so well. Test cricket, why not?"
Hales was England's driving force at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium and is just one member of an emerging squad of youngsters in which Collingwood has great faith.
He said: "They're a young group who want to go out and give it their best, and it's fantastic there's no ceiling to them ... the way they can flourish, and the environment.
"It's really exciting for English cricket to have a young set of talented cricketers like this ... we're in a very good, strong place."
England's new mentality, under ECB director Andrew Strauss, is to ensure limited-overs cricket is no longer a "poor relation" to Tests.
A home World Cup in 2019 has already concentrated minds and Collingwood does not believe success then is a distant dream.
He said: "Ultimately, we have a long-term goal - to win the World Cup. We understand there's a lot of development to go on and a lot of learning to do.
"That comes from the players themselves. The one thing that is working for them is keeping that same aggressive nature from the last two series. That should work on most surfaces."
