MX23RW : Sunday, December 15 20:00:38| >> :600:177389546:177389546:

Nottinghamshire head coach happy to have Alex Hales back

Nottinghamshire head coach happy to have Hales back
© Reuters
The batsman was dropped from England squads.

Nottinghamshire head coach Peter Moores said it was good to have Alex Hales back in the squad after the England batsman's return was called off because of persistent rain.

Hales had been due to play for his county in the Royal London One-Day Cup encounter with Durham at Grantham until the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Hales had been unavailable for his side's start to the competition, with personal reasons being cited by his club, before it was reported that he was serving a 21-day suspension for recreational drug use.

Alex Hales was dropped from England's one-day squads over his use of recreational drugs
Hales has been removed from all England squads (Mike Egerton/PA)

The batsman was subsequently withdrawn from England's squads for the internationals against Ireland and Pakistan, as well as this summer's World Cup.

Following the washout against Durham, Moores said: "Alex has fitted back in fine. We trained together yesterday as a squad, so that was a good chance for Alex to get back amongst the squad and the players.

"He's fine and has fitted back in and like most things, he knows he's got good mates here from many years back.

"It's good to have him back, he's been through a tough couple of weeks but now it's time for him to look forward and focus on playing some cricket."

Rain washed out Hales' return for Nottinghamshire
Rain washed out Hales' return for Nottinghamshire (Mike Egerton/PA)

Grantham was staging its first List A match since 2000 when Lincolnshire hosted the Netherlands in the NatWest Trophy.

However, the weather deteriorated soon after home captain Steven Mullaney  had won the toss and opted to field.

Umpires Neil Bainton and Peter Hartley officially called the contest off at 3.40pm, with one point being awarded to both sides.

Nottinghamshire remain top of the North Group with 11 points and Durham have nine and lie third. Both have one match remaining.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '44371948-e8f2-4fb6-bac0-64e48a607508');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:cricket');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Moores merrier for Hales return but rain reigns at Grantham'});

ID:358142: cacheID:358142:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:6510:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Joe Denly in action for England on February 11, 2019
Read Next:
England's ODI in Ireland - the key talking points
>
Read more about Alex Hales Cricket