Nottinghamshire batsman Alex Hales has signed a contract extension that commits him to Nottinghamshire until the end of the 2014 season.

Hales was crowned PCA Young Player of the Year at the NatWest PCA Awards last night after his best ever LV= County Championship season. He surpassed 1000 runs in the competition for the first time and was the Outlaws’ leading run-scorer in the Friends Life t20 as Notts made it to a second successive quarter-final.

His 116 against Essex in the Clydesdale Bank 40 underlined his limited overs credentials and helped him to earn selection for England Lions.

“I really enjoy the atmosphere in the dressing room and Trent Bridge is a great place to play cricket.” - Alex Hales

Full international recognition followed with a call-up to England’s Twenty20 squad and he is contention to feature in two Twenty20 Internationals against West Indies under the captaincy of his Nottinghamshire teammate Graeme Swann.

“Last season was good for me personally but the collective aim at Nottinghamshire is to push for honours in all three competitions,” said Hales.

“Signing Michael Lumb is a major boost for us and there are a lot of players within the squad who can have a big influence next season.

“I really enjoy the atmosphere in the dressing room and Trent Bridge is a great place to play cricket.”

Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell was pleased to offer Hales the opportunity to re-affirm his commitment to the club.

“Alex has improved in every year he’s been with us and he has become a key player in all formats,” said Newell.

“Twenty20 has proved to be his avenue into the England setup and he has ambitions to play Test cricket which will require him to score a high volume of runs over a sustained period of time in four day cricket.”