T20 World Cup: Alex Hales gets first England call-up since 2019 as Jonny Bairstow replacement

Alex Hales has been called up by England for the first time since 2019 as a replacement for Jonny Bairstow in their Twenty20 World Cup squad.

Bairstow was ruled out of the squad after sustaining a possible broken left leg while playing golf last week.

Hales has also been added to the T20 squad for September's tour of Pakistan.

England announced their squad for the T20 World Cup, which gets underway on 16 October and runs until 13 November, last week along with the squad for the seven-match series in Pakistan, starting on 20 September.

Speaking in February 2020, then-England captain Eoin Morgan said "there was a breakdown in trust between Hales and the team" and "a considerable amount of time was needed to regain that trust".

Nottinghamshire batsman Hales, who has scored 1,644 runs in 60 T20 internationals, has impressed with lots of runs for his county and said "the last three years have probably been the best I've played in T20 cricket"

In May, England's director of men's cricket Rob Key said Hales had "done his time".

More to follow.

• How is the iconic red double-decker bus made? Gregg Wallace goes Inside the Factory to find out
• 'You cannot just walk away, they'll kill you': Police investigate an extremely violent gang in Devon's drug economy