England batsman Alex Hales excited by positive approach
Wednesday 17 June 2015 07:11, UK
England opener Alex Hales says the squad are enjoying the positive style of one-day cricket being played by the side.
They endured a disastrous World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as they were dumped out of the competition at the group stage after winning just two of their six matches.
A new ethos now exists within Eoin Morgan’s team after they scored 408-9 in the opening ODI against New Zealand at Edgbaston to win by 210 runs, a record margin of victory and the first time they had passed 400 in the 50-over format of the game.
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That was followed by a narrow defeat on Duckworth-Lewis at The Oval and a three-wicket loss at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Sunday as the Kiwis took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
But the mood in the England camp remains upbeat ahead of Wednesday’s match at Trent Bridge, where Nottinghamshire player Hales feels they can impress on his home ground.
“The last week or so has been really enjoyable, particularly considering how badly the winter went for us as a squad,” he said.
“There are a lot of new faces around and the guys are doing at international level what they do for their counties. The guys are expressing themselves on the field and enjoying themselves, which is key.”
England have made a clear effort to bring some young, dynamic players into the set-up, including the Overton twins, Craig and Jamie.
Despite their relative inexperience, Hales feels they have remained competitive against a New Zealand side that were beaten finalists at the World Cup.
“We’re pretty inexperienced but the way things have gone so far, we have pretty much matched the Kiwis and have played some really good cricket,” added Hales.
“If you look at the squad, it is pretty much everyone’s natural game to attack. We’ve spoken about this (attacking cricket) over the last 12 months and it is good to see we are finally going out and doing it.
“If you look down our batting order, it’s full of strikers. We’ve got power-hitters all the way down the order, which is crucial now in one-day cricket.
“If we want to take on Australia in the Ashes we will need to play positive, aggressive cricket and that’s what we are doing now.”
Watch the fourth ODI between England and New Zealand from Trent Bridge. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 2 at 1:30pm on Wednesday.
