England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan has opened the door to Alex Hales’ possible return to the international fold.

In an interview with The Times, Morgan did not rule out Hales, who last played for England two years ago, returning in some capacity later this year ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Morgan said: “He texted me the day we went into lockdown. I haven’t spoken to him. My view on that has always been that the trust that Alex has lost will take time to rebuild and one of the issues we have had around having players who would either be trying to get into the side or wanting to come in and us have a look at them in and around training, hasn’t been possible around Covid.

“Trying to integrate players in that sense hasn’t been possible during this period. It’s looking like by the time we get home for the international summer the restrictions might be eased so that for the process of getting guys in and around the squad, there could be an opportunity to do that.

“There is a chance that he might be around the group and that opportunity might be there.”

Hales was famously discarded from England’s 2019 World Cup squad weeks before the tournament after it emerged that he had served a ban for a second positive drugs test. His last appearance for England came in a T20I against West Indies in March 2019.

Since then, Hales’ game has reached a new level in T20 cricket. He recently enjoyed an excellent Big Bash League campaign where he finished as the competition’s leading run-scorer with 543 runs at a strike-rate of 161.60. Hales has recently spoken of his burning desire to return to the England fold.

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