Friday 29 August 2014 15:33, UK
Alex Hales believes Alastair Cook is the right man to open England’s one-day batting and says the captain has the full support of the players.
Former team-mate Graeme Swann has suggested it is time for Cook to quit England's one-day side, comparing the team’s current tactics to that of a "two-litre diesel in a Formula One race".
England slumped to a 133-run defeat to India on Wednesday, leading Swann to make the assessment that they would not be able to win the World Cup until younger players and a fresher approach were introduced.
But Hales, who opened the batting with Cook in that loss and was England’s top scorer, is confident the captain will prove he deserves his place at the top of the order.
“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion but the guys in the dressing room are 100 per cent behind Alastair,” he said.
“If you look at his record in one-day cricket it’s a pretty good one and all of the guys are backing him to lead us to bounce back in the series.
“He’s been very confident throughout this series. I’ve only been with him for a short period of time but he is very confident.
“We got off to a pretty good start in that game with a 50 partnership. He is technically sound and I think he will show people he’s the right guy at the top of the order.”
Hales will bid to build on his good performance on Wednesday during the second one-day international, at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion but the guys in the dressing room are 100 per cent behind Alastair
The pitch in Nottingham for the Test match in July was heavily criticised for producing slow play, and the venue was given a warning by the International Cricket Council after it was rating “poor” following a report by match referee David Boon.
But Hales is confident it will produce plenty of runs this weekend.
“We’re expecting a very good one,” he said. “Normally the one-day wickets we play on at Trent Bridge are good batting tracks and I’m expecting a high-scoring game.
“Both teams have strong batting line-ups and it should be a good game. We’re not hiding from the fact that it was a poor team performance all round in the last one.
“We’ve wiped the slate clean and we’re feeling fresh heading into the game.”
Watch the third one-day international between England and India live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Saturday.
