Steve Harmison believes Alex Hales will not earn an England recall for the 50-over World Cup defence in India later this year, despite playing a starring role in their T20 World Cup win last year.
Hales was axed by England on the eve of their 50-over World Cup win back in 2019 after it emerged he had failed a second drugs test and the opener has not played an ODI since. His three-and-a-half year exile came to an end last year after Jason Roy was dropped and Jonny Bairstow suffered an injury ahead of the T20 World Cup and Hales played a starring role as England went on to lift the trophy, smashing 212 runs at an average of 42.40.
Following the final, England white ball coach Matthew Mott talked up Hales' ODI prospects, stating: "To me white-ball cricket is white-ball cricket. He's shown he's not a slogger of the ball.
"He's a proper cricketer and there's absolutely no reason why he couldn't get in that 50-over team. We've got some tough selections coming up, and we don't play a lot of one-day cricket, but I'm sure if he keeps in this rich vein of form he'll be hard to keep out."
However, Harmison believes the "ship has well and truly sailed" for Hales as an ODI cricketer, given he has been solely focused on T20 cricket and has not even played a List A game since March 2019. "I don't see Alex Hales going to India, no," Harmison told OnlineCricketBetting.
"I think Alex is very much in the T20 mode, franchise cricket, T20, The Hundred. I'd be very surprised if England brought him back for the 50 over competition, not that he's not good enough, I just think that the ship has well and truly sailed.
"I think him coming back into the fold of the T20 side, is just about enough. I think if Jason Roy had got another score off the back of that hundred in South Africa, then there wouldn't be any question marks around whether Roy will go to India as England's opener and just dispel the rumours that are for Hales to come back. Bairstow is coming back, Malan as well, whether they go with Root. That's probably one, two and three."
Instead, Harmison believes Will Jacks, who made his Test and T20I debuts last year but is yet to play an ODI, is more likely to be involved than Hales. "I think one notable name that will come into the equation, especially if England decide to keep going in the powerplay, and have an extra in the spin department would be Will Jacks," Harmison added.
"I think there's a lot of goodwill for him at this moment in time. I think he's a fantastic young player and I think if England go with Malan [to open] if Roy doesn't kick on and England make a decision that it's Bairstow and Malan, you might find that someone like Will Jacks will suit number three.
"I think this would be a better option because you've got your anchor there in Dawid Malan. As much as people want to talk about Joe Root, and for me, he's a much better player ability wise than Dawid Malan, but he's not going anywhere, Malan just keeps scoring runs.
"If Malan opens the batting for England, the Root option at number three would be more difficult for a selection point of view, so I think it will be Root or Malan in the side but it's how you fit them in and if Roy performs between now and then, Bairstow comes back in, you might find that Will Jacks might find himself at number three to be more forceful throughout the PowerPlay.
"If Roy stays in the side, then Bairstow comes back in, then you might find Root gets the nod at number three, because of his ability to fill in with a few overs with the ball as well. I think it's all in the melting pot for selectors at the minute and I'd be very surprised if Hales' name is in there for the 50-over World Cup, unless there's a few injuries."
