Mick Newell admits Alex Hales will be downcast about his World Cup prospects - but he says the England batsman must stay patient.
The Nottinghamshire batsman is vying with Ian Bell and Moeen Ali to open the batting in Australia and New Zealand, but Bell and Ali look to have left him frozen out.
Bell hit 187 and Ali 71 as England beat a Prime Minister’s XI by 60 runs in a warm-up game ahead of the upcoming triangular series with Australia and India.
England selector and Notts director of cricket Newell says Hales must follow the lead of county team-mate James Taylor, who also hit 71 and appears to have cemented his place in the middle order.
“At the moment it looks difficult for Alex. He must be down but things can change very quickly,” he said.
“You can get an injury to a player or he could come in as part of an experiment for one game. I’m sure he’s got a big part in the next ten weeks.
“That might be hard for him to see now but I’m sure opportunities will come. James Taylor came in on the back of a suspension to Alastair Cook in the last series and has been in ever since.
“That shows that when you get your chance you’ve got to make yourself undroppable.
“James is very clever and very good at grabbing any opportunity that comes to him. He makes it hard to be left out the team.”
The duo’s Notts team-mate Stuart Broad took four wickets in the game. He combined with Taylor to remove Glenn Maxwell on 136, Taylor catching the dangerman at gully to end any chance of England suffering an upset.
Fit-again Broad also claimed the wickets of Pat Cummins (27) and Jason Behrendorff (14) in the space of two balls and caught and bowled last man Simon Mackin (2) to finish with four for 40.
England posted a total of 391-6 off their 50 overs and the Prime Minister’s XI scored 331 in 48.1 overs in reply.