England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan has made it clear that Alex Hales might have to wait a little longer to return to the international fold, saying the Nottinghamshire batsman had lost the trust of his team-mates and that was "extremely dramatic".
The 31-year-old lost his place in England squad last summer after being axed from 2019 World Cup squad for failing a second test for recreational drug use.
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Morgan further said the incident could have cost England four years of hard work, as well as, "derailed" their victorious World Cup 2019 campaign, and now Hales will have to win back that trust and spot in the team with his both on and off-field performance.
As per reports in ESPNcricinfo, Morgan said: “Alex is in a unique position, probably in a position nobody else has found themselves in before. On the cusp of a World Cup, the huge breakdown in trust between him and the players was extremely dramatic, given the circumstances surrounding the four years [between World Cups] and the build-up, and the way that things unfolded.”
He further added, “I've spoken to Alex and certainly see an avenue for him to come back to playing cricket but, like in life and in any sport, when there's a breakdown of trust, the only healer in that is time. It's only been 12 or 13 months since the incident which could have cost us four years of hard work. Given it could have derailed a World Cup campaign, I think it might take some more time, yes.”
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The captain further insisted that performance has never been an issue for Alex, saying playing cricket for England is about on and off-the-field values that everyone adhere to, and the latter showed complete disregard for them.
He made it clear that the right-handed batsman can only return to the squad if he can build the on and off-the-field values of England.
Morgan signed off by saying, “It's obviously not about performance with Alex. Alex is a fantastic player; it's never been discussed whether he's good enough to be in the squad or not. Playing cricket for England is about on and off the field, values we adhere to or do our best to adhere to, and Alex showed complete disregard for them. Building up that for as long as he can and then hopefully an opportunity will present itself down the line.”
(With ESPNcricinfo Inputs)
