England captain Eoin Morgan has downplayed the possibility of Alex Hales getting a place in the England T20I squad ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Hales was removed from England’s 50-over World Cup squad for failing a second test concerning the use of recreational drugs. After which Morgan had opined, Hales had shown a ‘complete disregard’ for team values. He last played for England in March 2019 before the mega event, which the English team won.
“Our position on Alex remains the same. He’s out of the squad. The squad is very strong at the moment. You look at the strength of our squad at the moment and the areas that we’re trying to improve… one area we don’t struggle for players, it’s probably in the top three,” said Morgan as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Contrary to what Morgan said, current England men’s team director and former English international Ashley Giles said that Hales still has chances to make a comeback in the national side. Giles reckoned the door hasn’t yet been closed on Hales forever, but the 32-year-old need to earn back team members’ trust
“He’s a high-class player. We’re lucky that we’re blessed with a lot of high-class players in our T20 lineup particularly. But the door can’t be closed forever. As we all know, trust is a really important thing when you play in teams, and that has to be won back,” Giles told Sky Sport.
Giles further spoke about England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) plans to add some players to the training in the English summer. The former England spinner hinted that Hales could get featured in the training groups regarding the limited-overs side.
“We’re always looking at ways to consider getting players who aren’t currently in the active squad to come along to training days, perhaps in the run-up to a series. It’s an opportunity to keep growing and expanding that group of players and keep building those relationships with players who are just outside the actual squad but that we know are good cricketers. It’s something we might consider in the English summer,” added Giles.
