Rob Key, the ECB’s newly-appointed managing director of England men’s cricket, has suggested that the door is open for Alex Hales to return to the international fold.

Hales was a regular in England’s white-ball sides in the lead-up to the 2019 Cricket World Cup, but hasn’t featured since it was revealed that he had received a drugs ban in the lead-up to the competition. Hales was originally named in England’s 15-man squad for the global event, but was dropped after The Guardian revealed he was serving a 21-day suspension after failing a second recreational drugs test.

The subject of Hales’ possible return has been a recurring one since England’s win in that event, with captain Eoin Morgan saying that “the trust that Alex has lost will take time to rebuild”.

Now, Key has offered Hales qualified hope. “I will have to speak to the people involved in that decision but I would have Alex Hales available for selection,” he said. “I think he has done his time. But does that mean he gets in the team? That is a different debate.”

Hales was a mainstay in England’s ODI and T20I sides ahead of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, but he had lost his first-choice place in the 50-over side following Jonny Bairstow’s emergence as a world-class opener. Bairstow’s promotion to take on the new ball followed another incident involving Hales, with he and Ben Stokes left out following a night-club brawl in Bristol during England’s 2017 ODI series against West Indies.

Hales has courted controversy during his career, with the Notts opener also named during Azeem Rafiq’s DCMS testimony regarding the Yorkshire racism scandal, with Rafiq alleging that Hales had named his dog after a racist nickname that was an “open secret” in the English dressing room, something which was later denied by Hales. In the aftermath of the hearing, pictures of Hales in blackface at a 2009 New Years’ Eve party also emerged.

England reached the semi-final of the 2021 T20 World Cup, with Jos Buttler, Jason Roy and Dawid Malan establishing themselves as England’s first-choice top three. In early 2021, CricViz analyst Ben Jones argued that Hales was “one of the best T20 batsman in the world” and, on cricketing grounds, deserved to be recalled to the England set-up. Hales’ T20 form has remained excellent, with the top-order bat the leading overseas run-scorer in the 2022 Pakistan Super League, averaging 44.37 with a strike-rate of 147.30.