Ben Stokes and Alex Hales held serious talks with each other upon arriving in Australia

Ben Stokes held crunch talks with Alex Hales on his arrival in Australia before England felt able to go ahead with their World Cup schedule and include both in their roster.

It has emerged that the pair, who got into an argument over the Bristol incident involving both but saw only Stokes go to court, met with captain Jos Buttler once the England squad arriving in Perth from Pakistan had been joined by the test skipper. .

Only then could England go ahead and focus on a campaign they hope will end next month with uniting the 50-over and Twenty20 World Cup titles.

“We just sat down with Jos, had a chat and said our goal was to win the World Cup,” said Hales after scoring 84 from 51 balls in England’s opening win in their three-game warm-up series. against Australia at the Perth Stadium.

“We had a very good conversation and things are going well. There has been no air purification at all. It has been as good as gold. Really smooth.’

The talks were important as there was a chance that the issues between Stokes and the opener, who was banned from the squad on the brink of the 2019 World Cup when it was found that he had failed a second test for recreational drugs, would fester.

Stokes, in particular, values ​​team spirit, a big factor in England’s Test transformation, and clearly felt he needed to voice his opinion on his feud with Hales, even as he gave his blessing to the Notts man to come back for this world return Cup challenge.

Hales did not say the pair had settled their differences when he spoke before England went to Canberra for Wednesday’s second game, but there were signs during their first game together in over three years that the ice had begun to thaw.

Stokes stood next to Hales in the England lineup before the match and the pair wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders during the national anthem.

When Stokes joined Hales in the middle after an opening score of 132 with Buttler, there were talks, smiles and punches between the two in their all too short partnership.

It is clear that during England’s 4-3 T20 series win in Pakistan, Hales, who was given a reprieve after Jonny Bairstow’s bizarre golf injury, spent time building bridges with other players he thought he would never have. would stand next to them.

“In Pakistan you spend a lot of time together because you are not allowed to leave the hotels,” he said. ‘You spend a lot of time with the boys. So it went really smooth. It’s been really good and I’ve enjoyed it so far.’

Now, after overcoming a patchy start to place a match performance player in the first international, Hales, now 33, wants to make up for lost time in those three years in exile and leave his mark on what he believes to be the greatest tournament of his career.

“It’s a special feeling to be back,” he said after England’s eight-run victory over the defending T20 world champions. “It’s just a shame I haven’t been there for three years because I feel like I’ve played the best cricket of my life. I lost time to make up for it.

“I think this tournament is for me. It’s something I didn’t expect to happen and most importantly I just want to enjoy it.

“It’s an opportunity I never thought would come and I want to play with a smile, hopefully get some good scores and push as hard as I can to win a World Cup.”

He started making up for that lost time in Perth after admitting before the match that he was nervous, even though he had played in Pakistan in six of the seven English matches. “It was a stranger,” Hales admitted. ‘I hadn’t been nervous for a long time.

‘I don’t know what it was. I blame it on jet lag or maybe it’s going to be a massive six weeks for me. So there were definitely some nerves before the game, but it was great to get out there and get a good start.”

Now, after knocking out Phil Salt in what Buttler said was a close call, Hales can seriously start planning to compete in this World Cup. And with the help of Stokes, let the past pass.