His father Gary broke several local batting records (including 321 not out for Gerrards Cross versus Chalfont St Peter in a limited overs league match) while his grandfather Dennis was a talented tennis player who once forced Rod Laver to five sets at Wimbledon.

[3] Hales first came to national attention in 2005 when, as a sixteen-year-old, he hit 55 off a single over (three no-balls, eight sixes, one four) in a Cricket Idol T20 tournament at Lords.

Hales was man of the match, after scoring 99 before losing his wicket to a yorker bowled by Rampaul with the game almost won.

Hales played in both games against South Africa, making scores of 11 in both innings, although he remained unbeaten in the second as the match was rained off.

In that match against West Indies he along with Eoin Morgan set the record for the highest 4th wicket partnership in ICC World T20 history (107).

In that same match he along with Eoin Morgan set the record for the highest 3rd wicket partnership in T20 World Cup history(152).

In the fourth ODI he replaced suspended captain Alistair Cook at the top of the order, but was dismissed for a first ball duck.

Hales was overlooked for the start of England's World Cup campaign and did not play until the must-win game against Bangladesh.

In the second ODI Hales performed more strongly, scoring 54 off 49 balls, but England lost by 13 runs in a close match.

Hales made a score of 28 in England's opening game defeat against the West Indies, before making 17 in a historic run chase against South Africa.

He repaid their faith in the first test at Headingley by scoring 86, and sharing a century partnership with Jonny Bairstow when England were in trouble.

In the second match he made 133 not out and was involved in a record breaking partnership with Jason Roy as England won by ten wickets after reaching 256/0.

Hales missed the first two matches against the West Indies through injury, but returned in the final game, making 110 as England made 328 and won by 186 runs.

He started off the tournament sublimely with a blazing 86-ball 95, although missing out on a hundred, his good form continued with 56 from 62 balls against New Zealand, however, he was bowled for a duck in the last group stage encounter against Australia and could only make 11 against Pakistan in the semi-final which England lost.

[20][21] However, two days after the England squad was named, Hales made himself unavailable for Nottinghamshire's fixture against Lancashire in the 2019 Royal London One-Day Cup citing "personal reasons".

[26] In September 2022, Hales was called back to the English T20 squad for the T20 World Cup, as a late replacement for the injured Jonny Bairstow.

[27] After a couple of middling scores in the first two games, Hales hit a good run of form alongside the batting with his captain, Jos Buttler.

On 14 March 2015, Hales signed for Mumbai Indians for the final match of the regular season and the knockout stages replacing injured Corey Anderson.

[30] After going unsold in the 2018 IPL auction, on 31 March 2018, it was announced that Hales would join Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2018 season replacing David Warner.

[34][35] In February 2022, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament but later pulled out for personal reasons.

Playing for Sydney Thunder, Hales finished as top scorer in the 2020–21 Big Bash League season.

[38] On 25 January 2019 Alex struck his first BPL century off 47 balls for the Rangpur Riders[39] In September 2019, he was named in the squad for the Durban Heat team for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.

[44] He made a surprise return to PSL ahead of the Islamabad United's first eliminator playoff game against Peshawar Zalmi.

[46] Alex Hales has signed up for BPL franchise Rangpur Riders for the 2018–19 season, their CEO Ishtiaque Sadeque has confirmed.

Hales became Riders' first of the two signings from outside the draft, apart from their four retained players Chris Gayle, Mashrafe Mortaza, Nazmul Islam and Mohammad Mithun.

In September 2017, Hales, along with teammate Ben Stokes, was charged with bringing the game into disrepute by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

The charge related to an incident that took place outside a Bristol nightclub, in September 2017, several hours after England had played a one-day international against the West Indies at the County Ground in the city.

[47] Stokes was charged with affray over the incident by police and the ECB deferred its disciplinary hearing until the legal proceedings had finished.

In December 2018, the Cricket Disciplinary Commission reached a verdict in response to Hales's behaviour in Bristol and in relation to "inappropriate images".

[25] Hales' ban followed him pulling out of Nottinghamshire's Royal London One Day Cup campaign due to "personal reasons".