by Our Sports Desk

Opener Alex Hales was confident yesterday that England’s World Twenty20 campaign will not be derailed by spin.

It is part of the received wisdom of the game that English batsmen have a weakness against the turning ball, particularly in the kind of conditions they are set to face in Mumbai and Delhi this month.

But Nottinghamshire batsman Hales believes the current side do not suffer from the problems of the past.

He may be one of just five squad members to have played international cricket in India but — having been part of the side that beat Pakistan in both 50 and 20-over series before Christmas on the slow, low decks of the United Arab Emirates — Hales is bullish about England’s prospects against the tournament’s top tweakers.

“I think if you look down our order there are good players of spin,” said the 27-year-old.

“Joe Root is one of the best players in the world against spin, and Eoin Morgan is another great player of spin.

“Everyone has to have their own different methods. Some guys like to move their feet and some guys are sweeping, but we’re all confident in our own methods and we have to take that into the games.

“This is my third World Cup now in the sub-continent so I’m familiar with the conditions. A few of the guys aren’t so I’ll pass on whatever I can to guys who haven’t played out here.”

England’s first warm-up match, against New Zealand today, and first group game, versus the West Indies on March 16, both take place at the Wankhede Stadium.

That is the home of Mumbai Indians, the IPL franchise who picked up Hales as injury cover at the end of last season’s competition.

Although he did not make the XI in a brief stopover, he brought back plenty of positive experiences from the trip.

“I didn’t actually get to play but I did a lot of training and practising on the pitch,” he said.

“It was only a small time I spent with Mumbai but even though I was only there for a week it was great to train among the guys.

“Just sharing a changing room with guys like Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Jonty Rhodes as fielding coach, it was a really great experience.”

Both England and New Zealand are permitted to use all 15 players in their practice fixture but with time already short, head coach Trevor Bayliss intends to send out his first-choice XI and stick with it.

“I think the most important thing is getting that match intensity straight away,” Hales agreed.