Alex Hales Coming of Age
In 2005, 16 year-old Alex Hales, from Hounslow, entered our Search 4 A Star Programme, and showed plenty of raw talent as a tall, willowy, all-rounder.
The interview process, which took place after the cricket activity, revealed a young man who had experienced some rejection from county age group cricket. He had a desire to overcome previous setbacks by embracing whatever opportunity London County could offer him to progress his dream to become a cricketer. I decided to support Alex’s next steps on the basis that he had the critical mix I look for, in a young player’s make up: natural athletic ability, and a desire to progress by showing initiative to seek greater opportunity.
Hales’ sporting pedigree was another interesting factor behind my thinking to create greater opportunity for him. His father Gary was a good all-round sportsman, who had the kind of down to earth straight-forwardness which I believe can be very helpful in overseeing a talented young sportsperson’s development.
I had also learnt from Gary that his own father, Denis, was the London Parks Tennis Champion and was only able to play in tournaments further afield by supplementing his day job as a bus driver with a spot of piano playing in clubs at night close to a tournament venue. He was obviously a very talented ‘all-rounder’ who did not enjoy the benefits of a formal education, but was a graduate from ‘the university of life’. As a mark of Denis’ ability, he had once taken the great Australian Rod Laver to five sets at The Wimbledon Championship.
Denis Hales was a top sportsman born into the wrong era. Any individual who came from a humble background was unable to participate in much of the sporting competition, due to circumstance and a lack of a professional structure in all sports except football. Only the ‘upper-classes’ could commit the time to playing sport full-time, safe in the knowledge that a future job in the family business was assured. Even in the case of professional football, there was a maximum £10 weekly wage, and an uncertain future beyond football.
With Alex’s background, I felt comfortable that he would pursue the challenges I intended to create for him with the requisite vigour, in order to maximise his chances of being able to live his dream. After the first couple of Player Development Workshops which followed the Talent Identification Events, Alex was invited to play in Founder’s Day at Lord’s to celebrate WG Grace, on the date of ‘The Great Cricketer’s’ birth. What ‘WG’ would have made of a Twenty20 Tournament at Lord’s is difficult to consider, but as a cricketing pioneer himself, I imagine he would have been a creative, powerful and successful player in any era.
The four-team Tournament had teams named after London County Greats. Ranji’s XI, CB Fry’s XI, WG Grace’s XI and a President’s XI had a mixture of players from the Search 4 A Star Programme and established quality cricketers, with each team captained by a former County Captain. The star performance of the day came from Alex, playing for WG Grace’s XI. He hit a remarkable 55 off one over, and won ‘Player of the Day’ for his unbeaten, match-winning century.
Consequently, selection for a London County Development XI to play Nasser Hussain’s XI at Ilford CC followed, and a superb 91 in a successful run chase under the captaincy of the estimable Nottinghamshire Coach Paul Johnson, led to even more opportunity. Undoubtedly, a prospective ‘star’ was emerging on the horizon. The nature of the Programme was that individuals who displayed the desire to learn and maximise whatever opportunity afforded them were given further opportunities to develop, on and off the field.
As a consequence of Alex’s progress on London County’s ‘Search 4 A Star Programme’, Gary and Alex were invited to join our London County Foundation Members for a Dinner, on the Saturday evening of the 4th Ashes Test at Trent Bridge. The former South African All-Rounder Eddie Barlow and his charming wife Cally, were also present, and joined us in ‘The Larwood Box’ at Trent Bridge for the pulsating fourth and final day’s play of the Test. In one of the most nerve-wracking finishes to any Test match, England’s Matthew Hoggard hit the winning runs through extra cover and gave England a 2-1 lead in the series going into the final Test at The Oval. The drama left us all in thrall to the game of cricket, and for one sixteen year-old promising cricketer, it must have further whetted the appetite for a professional future in the game.
Alex was then invited to be part of London County’s Overseas Tour to South Africa, and for one so young, had to deal with international travel on his own for the first time as he travelled independently from the rest of the party due to school commitments, aswell as playing with and against established professional cricketers.
His playing performances reached a low point on Tour, by making four successive ducks, but he took the blows on the chin, and was prepared to absorb the learning available from his difficulties. I believe that such experiences test a person’s resilience, and the best develop a determination to work through the situation with an increased his desire to experience the other side of the coin.
One feature of his Tour was the quality speech he made at Stellenbosch University, during the luncheon interval, of our match against Omar Henry’s XI. Sadly, the fixture co-incided with the memorial service of Eddie ‘Bunter’ Barlow at Newlands the day before, following his passing a fortnight earlier. Alex was very generous in his praise of Eddie, and the quality conversation they had shared at Trent Bridge the previous summer, and on the ground where ‘Bunter’ had transformed many cricketers lives in the Western Cape, it was significant that another young player whose life had been touched by the irrepressible former South African all-rounder, should pay such a warm tribute.
It has been wonderful to observe Alex going from watching a Test in 2005 at Trent Bridge to joining MCC Young Cricketers at Lord’s; signing a professional contract with Nottinghamshire in 2008; fielding as 12th Man for England at his home ground in a Test in 2009; scoring a remarkable undefeated one day century on television which had former England Captain and Sky Sports commentator Mike Atherton in raptures.
A double century for the Second XI two weeks ago created an opportunity for first team selection, which provided the platform for him scoring his maiden First-Class Century in the County Championship Division One clash versus Hampshire this past week. Alex’s second innings century was scored off the back of a first innings duck, and was critical to rescuing Nottinghamshire’s innings, and set up an exciting match which ultimately saw Hampshire win by two wickets in an exciting climax to a remarkable game. Despite being unable to win the match, the bonus points took Nottinghamshire to the top of the County Championship, where they may finish at the end of September if Alex and his teammates can replicate their exciting and committed cricket week in and week out till the end of the season.
At his best, Hales’ clean striking of the cricket ball is breathtaking, and marks him down as a genuine crowd-pleaser. With another half-century yesterday against Scotland in the Clydesdale Bank40 League, and some profile Twenty20 Cricket on the near horizon, Alex Hales’ star may shine even brighter in the weeks and months to come.
I am sure that everyone who has been part of Alex’s development at Gerrards Cross Cricket Club, MCC Young Cricketers, his current colleagues and friends at Nottinghamshire CCC, plus all of us at London County, look forward to watching the next space with great interest…
