Dashing Hales hits ground running

By Dave Bracegirdle

Alex Hales completed a hectic 24 hours by starring with a man of the match performance on his Big Bash debut. The Nottinghamshire opener was summoned from England to replace the injured Marlon Samuels and scored 89 from just 52 deliveries on his maiden appearance for the Melbourne Renegades.

After flying from London to Sydney, via Abu Dhabi, the t20 specialist overcame a steady – and presumably nervous – start to plunder five boundaries and eight sixes before falling in the 16th over. With a century in sight, he lofted Moises Henriques to deep extra cover, where county team-mate Michael Lumb took a well-judged catch.

Understandably delighted with his effort, the right-hander said: “I was lucky enough to get a good sleep on the plane and I knew, if I got through the tough bit at the start with Brett Lee bowling very well, that it was a good deck and we could make up for it.”

Hales shared in a stand of 112 in just 10.3 overs with Ben Rohrer, who scored 57, a partnership that propelled the Renegades to an eventual total of 178 for 5. “Me and Benny took our time and knew it would get easier. He played nicely there towards the end,” added Hales.

Slow left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe bore the brunt of the Hales assault, going for 50 runs in his three overs. His final over ended with the Nottinghamshire batsman launching him for three consecutive maximums, two of which went for 111 and 109 metres respectively, the two biggest hits in this year’s competition. “It was just a bit of ‘close your eyes and swing as hard as you can’,” said the 24-year old.

The Renegades restricted Sydney Sixers to 149 all out in their reply, with Darren Pattinson claiming figures of 3 for 34. Lumb made 21 for the Sixers, who cannot make the last four now, but Hales – and the Renegades – can now look forward to a home semi-final at the Etihad Stadium next Tuesday (January 15).

*Nottinghamshire, meanwhile, will be looking for a new captain for their Friends Provident t20 campaign this summer after Middlesex announced the signing of Adam Voges for the 2013 competition.

With Chris Read preferring to hand over the reins for the shortest format, Australian batsman Voges skippered the Trent Bridge side to last year’s quarter-finals, averaging 52.50 from his eight innings.

Voges had become a cult hero in Nottingham for his century on the last day of the 2010 season which helped secure the LV= County Championship but he only scored 313 in 12 first class innings in 2012 and the county have looked elsewhere and secured the services of fellow-Australian Ed Cowan for the first part of the English season.

Speaking after the move to Middlesex had been confirmed, the 33-year old Voges said: “'I loved every minute at Nottinghamshire and can't thank them enough for my time there. Middlesex is a great club and the opportunity of playing at Lord’s is something I’m really excited about. I’m hoping to have a big impact in this year’s competition.”

Voges, Western Australia's acting captain, has made 19 limited over appearances for Australia and in a t20 career spanning over 100 appearances he has scored more than 2,500 runs at an average of 32, with a strike-rate of 131. He has also played in the IPL for the Rajasthan Royals.

The Middlesex managing director of cricket, Angus Fraser, said: “In 2012 we played some decent t20 cricket but seemed to lack a bit of experience and nous in crucial match situations. It cost us at least a couple of games. The signing of Adam will hopefully help us to remedy that problem.

"He has an excellent track-record in all forms of the game, but particularly in t20 cricket. His experience will be invaluable and everyone I have spoken to tells me he is a top bloke. We are all looking forward to working with him and improving our t20 cricket in 2013.”





Date: 09/01/2013 11:48:26 by Dave Bracegirdle
In: Today | Nottinghamshire | Middlesex | England |