by Our Sports Desk

England’s rookie one-day international opener Alex Hales has heard all the noises regarding captain Alastair Cook’s World Cup credentials, but he is already planning their campaign together.

Cook has been assailed, not for the first time this summer, by the opinions of a former team-mate — Graeme Swann advocating he give up on the World Cup, for his and England’s sake — and after a wide-margin defeat against India in the second on-day match, he made it clear that type of input from players turned pundits is far from welcome.

Hales, already a Twenty20 power-hitter of some repute for England, made his one-day debut in Cardiff and is set to bat with Cook for only the second time on his home ground at Trent Bridge today.

As England seek to level the series  the 6ft 5in opener will be bidding to consolidate on his encouraging start.

He top-scored and shared a half-century stand with Cook in an otherwise miserable performance from the home batsmen.

Returning to a venue where he has so often delighted Nottinghamshire supporters, and also first served notice of his international potential with 99 from 68 balls in a Twenty20 against the West Indies two years ago, he is not about to get ahead of himself.

The Swann thesis is that Cook’s sub-80 ODI strike rate, compared to Hales’s of 99.47 in List A cricket, is not fit for purpose — certainly for a world tournament such as the one towards which England are building in Australia and New Zealand early next year.

But Hales is merely intent on proving, as his recent prolific county form suggests, that he can trade up successfully to ODIs.

“It’s a dream come true, particularly after how last season went in first-class cricket,” the 25-year-old said of his new role.

“I’ve had to work really hard to show people I can be more than just a Twenty20 slogger.”