Follow UsAlex Hales, 34, retired from international cricket recently, with his last act for England being lifting the T20 World Cup in Melbourne last year. However, he will continue playing for Nottinghamshire in white-ball cricket and will also be available for selection in franchise T20 leagues worldwide.
While he is proud of the 150-plus caps he earned for England across three formats, he said that he would have loved to emulate fellow Englishman Will Smeed, who signed only a white-ball contract with Somerset last year at the age of 21.
"Just with the way I play, and my instincts and my technique, I would've chucked my eggs into the T20 basket - for sure," Hales told Michael Atherton on Sky Sports.
"I would do a Will Smeed - and fair play to him for doing that. It's a bold decision. Hopefully, it works out for him. I think the way the game is now, you're seeing fewer and fewer people who are exceptional at all three formats. There's obviously a select handful who are brilliant at all three, but you see the way the game has gone - especially the last sort of five years - you see more and more specialists.
"I've always found the technique and skillsets very different across the formats: bowlers looking to bowl slow and wide, yorkers, slower bouncers, and then you go back to a four-day game, looking to hit the top of off. It's very difficult to make sure your skillset is at the top for all three formats."
Hales admits he fought his instincts when he played Test cricket for England. From a strike-rate of nearly 60 for Nottinghamshire in first-class cricket, it dropped to 43.84 in the longest format for his country.
"I was definitely fighting a lot of my instincts opening the batting here in England," Hales said. "It's a seriously tough place to open the batting. To see the way Zak [Crawley] and Ben [Duckett] have done it this summer has been unbelievable, to go out there and play their shots," Hales, who scored 573 runs in 11 Tests, said.
"Maybe, looking back, if I could have gone about it in my natural way, I may have had a bit more success. I actually think I may have been more suited to the middle order... I've always sort of been pushed up to open the batting, maybe against what would suit my natural games. Had I got a crack now amongst the Bazball stuff? Who knows?"
Hales is already a globetrotter and has already played for seven T20 teams around the world. He reckons there is a misconception that players playing in these leagues have it easy.
"Fitness can be tricky, especially when you're going to different countries," he said.
"You're living in hotels all the time, you're living out of a suitcase. Keeping on top of your diet can be tricky. I'm probably only with Notts, maybe for six, seven weeks of the year, so you have to be very independent.
"The Indian franchises have bought quite a few franchises across different countries: maybe they'll look after the players all year round? That will be an interesting one. But it wouldn't surprise me if guys start looking after themselves and have their own backroom staff like you see in tennis and golf.
"Sometimes T20s have that label of being the easy way out and an easy life… When you're playing in these tournaments, you are an overseas player. You're expected to score runs, to perform in foreign conditions. And if you don't, there's a big queue of players looking to do it."
Hales is currently part of the Trent Rockets side, playing in The Hundred. His side got off to the perfect start, beating Southern Brave by six runs at Trent Bridge on Tuesday (August 1). However, their second game against Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston on Saturday (August 5) was washed out without a single ball being bowled.
Hales and the Rockets will be in action on Wednesday (August 9) against Northern Superchargers at Trent Bridge.