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English batsman Alex Hales might have ended on the losing the side after his team Sydney Thunder were defeated by Melbourne Stars by four runs in Big Bash League (BBL) fixtures but Hales did find some reasons to celebrate after he became BBL’s leading international run scorer (excluding Australians).
The opening batsman currently has 1,484 runs in his kitty from 48 BBL matches. He managed to add 10 runs to his tally against Melbourne to get the record in his name.
Hales overtook his fellow countryman Luke Wright in BBL’s leading run scorer’s list for overseas batters. Wright has 1,479 runs to his name from 57 BBL matches.
Despite a duck in his opening match of the BBL season against the Brisbane Heat, as per a report by cricket.com.au, Hales admitted that he was primed for another stellar season, saying that he is thrilled to overtake Wright as BBL's most successful international batter.
"To have the chance to be the leading overseas run scorer of all time would be huge for me," Hales said before the fixture against Melbourne Stars.
"It's a tournament that holds some great memories for me personally," Hales added.
Having been out of the England set-up following off-field indiscretions in early 2019, Hales – who played with the Melbourne Renegades for three seasons from BBL second season - said he had a lot of great memories from his time spent in Australia.
"I've been coming here (Australia) since I was 18 or 19, playing for various club sides in league cricket, and got a chance in the Big Bash many moons ago now," he recalled.
"Any opportunity I get to play in Australia means a hell of a lot and I'd snap anyone's hand off to come play here."
Against Melbourne, Hales wanted to be a little cheeky and came a long way across to sweep Aussie spinner Adam Zampa. Hales failed to read Zampa’s fast and full delivery and the ball hit his pad to dismiss him for just 10.
