Hales: It's too early to be pigeonholed

England

Opening batsman Alex Hales refused to be categorised as just a Twenty20 International cricketer, as England prepared for Tuesday's one-off fixture against Sri Lanka at The Oval in London.

Opening batsman Alex Hales refused to be categorised as just a Twenty20 International cricketer, as England prepared for Tuesday's one-off fixture against Sri Lanka at The Oval in London.

Hales remains a key player in shortest format of the international game, but continues to be overlooked for the ODI squad, which will play five matches against Sri Lanka this month.

"I'm keen to learn from last year and move on, I think it's too early to be pigeonholed as a T20 player. I am working hard on other aspects of the game," said Hales.

"I feel if they gave me a chance this summer I'd be ready for it. I've seen a lot of Sri Lanka and seen a bit of India and feel I'd be ready if the chance came along."

His push for a berth in the Test collective, meanwhile, has been hampered by an indifferent start to the County Championship. Loaned to Worcestershire and then returned to Nottinghamshire, the right-hander has scored 154 runs in six innings.

"The stuff so far has all been red-ball cricket and it has been a little of everything for me – batting at number six, then off on loan to Worcester batting at number four, then opening last week," he added.

"So I haven't really had chance to knuckle down with the red-ball stuff. That's been the story of the season so far, dealing with that frustration."

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