"It was the entire team's call to axe Alex Hales," reveals England captain Eoin Morgan
What's the story?
England's dashing opener, Alex Hales, recently got axed from the English team after he tested positive to have taken recreational drugs on two different occasions. The skipper of the English team, Eoin Morgan took part in an interview on Thursday and slammed Hales for showing a lack of respect for team values. Morgan even said that Hales could no longer be trusted.
The background
This is not the first time that Hales has been involved in an off-field controversy. Back in 2017, he and his fellow English teammate Ben Stokes were a part of a late night street brawl that took place in Bristol. Morgan said that the incident had opened the English team's eyes as they were role models to many.
The heart of the matter
An unhappy Morgan threw light on Hales' spot in the English team and said that:
"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."
Hales was then removed from the English squad for the series against Pakistan and Ireland.
Also Read: Jason Roy and Alex Hales out of England squad for series against Ireland and Pakistan
Morgan mentioned how hard the team members had worked for building a team culture. He said that England will need at least 15 men to bring the World Cup home. He even stated that Hales had been deselected as he did not adhere to everything that the team had been working towards for a very long time.
Hales, however accused the English board of failing to honor their promise of assuring him a place in the World Cup squad despite his latest suspension.
What's next?
After Morgan's remarks, Hales' place in the World Cup squad will be a major talking point for the next few days. It will be interesting to see how the players who have been picked in place of Hales perform in the series against Ireland and Pakistan.