The day Sydney Thunder star’s grandad stood up Rod Laver
Imagine standing up arguably the greatest Australian sportsperson of all time. That’s exactly what Alex Hales’ grandad did to Rod Laver mid-match because he was late for his bus round.
Tennis
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Alex Hales has brought down the biggest names in the Big Bash this summer, but none of it quite matches up to the achievements of his grandfather, who once stood up arguably the greatest Australian sportsperson of all time.
At the peak of Rod Laver’s reign as world tennis champion, Englishman Dennis Hales was going blow for blow with the Aussie hero at the famous Queens Club in London in the 1960s.
But with the scoreboard locked at one set apiece, the grandfather of one of T20 cricket’s most destructive hitters walked off the court to return to work as a London bus driver.
“The double-decker bus was parked outside,” Sydney Thunder opener Hales said of his grandfather.
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“It was a really close match but he had to leave because he was midway through his bus round. He disappeared and said, ‘sorry mate, I’ve got to go and work’.
“I’ve seen the records of this as well. So Laver was just stranded there, no one else to play. Incredible.”
It wasn’t the first time talented amateur Dennis Hales played tennis’s pre-eminent all-time great.
Ten years earlier, they faced off at Wimbledon when Laver was a young man, and Hales pushed him all the way to five sets.
“To do that to one of the greatest tennis players to ever play the game was extraordinary,” Hales said.
“I was lucky to have played him when he would have been in his 60s and I was 14 or 15 as a county tennis player as well.”
The sporting gene has certainly been passed down the generations to 31-year-old England cricket international Hales, whose brilliant performances at the back end of the season have powered the Thunder from the brink of missing the BBL playoffs to within one game of the final.
Hales was yesterday snubbed from the BBL team of the year.
The big-hitting match-winner is the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament, having scored 568 runs for the Thunder at an average of 40, including six crucial half-centuries.
Yet there was no place for him in a BBL XI that also included only one Sydney Sixer, Tom Curran, despite the fact they are already sitting in the final.
Hales missed out to the Perth Scorchers’ Josh Inglis, who slotted in at the top of the order as the best-performed wicketkeeper/batsman of the season.
However, Hales’ omission doesn’t take away from his influence.
“He’s wanted to perform and he’s wanted to do well and it’s clicked for him,” Thunder bowler Chris Tremain said. “We’ve had our ups and downs during the tournament, but we’re peaking at the right time and I think Alex is too.
“Daniel Sams (the one Thunder player in team of the year) and Alex have been outstanding.
“But there’s always a revolving machine underneath that keeps everything going well.
“I think one person in the team of the year shows we are a team, and not just a team of stars.”