England Skipper Criticises Notts Batsman After Ban

2 May 2019, 15:36 | Updated: 2 May 2019, 15:45

England captain Eoin Morgan has scolded Nottinghamshire's Alex Hales for showing "complete disregard" for team values and revealed a meeting of senior players sealed the batsman's removal from the World Cup squad.

Hales incurred a 21-day ban after reportedly recording two positive tests for recreational drugs but was only axed from international duty after the news broke in the media.

Prior to that Morgan, head coach Trevor Bayliss and national selector Ed Smith were all in the dark, with the England and Wales Cricket Board's guidelines proving restrictive.

Only the chief medical officer Dr Nick Peirce, managing director of men's cricket Ashley Giles and chief executive Tom Harrison had been informed of Hales' circumstances and were bound by a duty of confidentiality not to share the information.

However, once the team became aware, Hales' hopes of featuring in this summer's tournament evaporated quickly.

A visibly seething Morgan said: "Unfortunately Alex's actions have shown complete disregard for those (team) values.

"This has created a lack of trust between Alex and the team. On Saturday we got together as a group of senior players to discuss the effect the news coming out would have on the team and the culture.

"We all agreed the best decision for the team was for Alex to be deselected. I relayed this to Ashley Giles, because we don't have final say, I can only give the view in the changing room and how guys feel. I think we've dealt with it really well."

Meanwhile - Hales is expected to make his Nottinghamshire comeback on Friday after being named in the 14-man squad that will take on Durham in the Royal London One-Day Cup.