Alex Hales has revealed he had a "really good talk" with Ben Stokes ahead of the T20 World Cup, but insists there is no need for the pair to clear the air.
Hales returned to action with England after an almost three-year absence in the recent seven match T20I series against Pakistan, but Stokes did not join up with the group until they arrived in Perth due to his involvement with the Test team.
Stokes pointedly referred to Hales as "my friend at the time, Alex" in his recent Amazon Prime documentary where he discussed the 2017 Bristol incident which led to them falling out. The pair were involved in a brawl after an ODI match, with Stokes arrested and charged with affray before he was acquitted at trial.
Hales initially claimed he had not witnessed the incident, and went off to play golf the morning after Stokes' arrest without telling anyone what had happened.
When asked about Hales' recall last month, Stokes simply said: "I think at the end of the day, everyone's goal is to win that World Cup for England. My goal, Alex's goal and everyone else who's part of that squad's goal is to win that World Cup."
And white ball coach Matthew Mott insisted the pair do not need to be "best mates" in order to help England win the World Cup. However, Stokes and Hales met with captain Jos Buttler for talks after reuniting in Australia.
"We just sat down with Jos, had a chat and said our goal was to win the World Cup," Hales revealed. "We've had a really good talk and things are fine.
"There's been no air clearing at all. It's been good as gold. Really smooth." They also briefly shared a partnership in the first warm-up game against Australia and Hales says his reintegration into the squad after almost three years has been "really smooth".
"In Pakistan you spend a lot of time with each other because you're not allowed to leave the hotels," he added. "You're around the guys a lot. So it's been really smooth. It's been really good and I've enjoyed it so far."
