For Alex Hales, a winter of discontent came to an end with a century in the Barbados sunshine. For the West Indies, the way out of the darkness looks to be a lot longer. The past few months have been a trying time for Hales — questioned by many for missing the tour to Bangladesh over security fears, then forced to fly home early from India with a fractured bone in his hand. Throughout it all, he has been backed by an England team whose designs on this summer’s Champions Trophy have him front and centre. Today, that support came in the inevitable form of Joe Root who, after being dropped twice early in his innings, reached his ninth one-day international century.

Source: The Times March 09, 2017 21:56 UTC