Rajasthan, placed second behind toppers Kolkata, have eight wins in 11 matches and still favourites to make the top two in the playoffs
cricket10 hours ago
Alex Hales was removed from England's squad for the Cricket World Cup following a meeting of the country's senior players who believed he showed a lack of respect for team values and could no longer be trusted.
Speaking publicly about Hales' deselection for the first time, England captain Eoin Morgan delivered a scathing condemnation of the batsman's behavior.
"Unfortunately, Alex's actions have shown complete disregard for those (team) values," a visibly unhappy Morgan said on Thursday. "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, who was likely to be a back-up batsman in England's squad, was dropped for an "off-field incident" that led to a recent suspension. It was the second time Hales has been sanctioned under the England and Wales Cricket Board's disciplinary policy, having been suspended and fined for his part in a street brawl also involving England teammate Ben Stokes in September 2017.
It has been reported in British newspapers that the 30-year-old Hales was serving a 21-day ban after twice testing positive for recreational drugs.
Hales has accused England's hierarchy of reneging on promises, saying he was given assurances that his latest suspension would not affect his selection for the World Cup.
Morgan said England's players had "worked extremely hard on our culture" in the wake of the late-night incident involving Stokes and Hales in Bristol, which eventually saw Stokes cleared by a court on a charge of affray.
"It really did open our eyes to ourselves, not just being judged as performers but how we are as role models, who really need to step up and recognise that's a huge part of our job," Morgan said.
"We will need at least 15 men to win the World Cup and, whatever way Alex would have dealt with it, the other 14 people would have been dragged down and that would have been quite a weight taken forward. I don't think we have cast him adrift ... (but) to deselect him we felt was the best decision simply because he did not adhere to everything that we have been working towards for a very long time."
England start a busy summer of international cricket with an ODI against Ireland on Friday. It is one of the team's warmup games ahead of the World Cup, which starts on May 30.
Rajasthan, placed second behind toppers Kolkata, have eight wins in 11 matches and still favourites to make the top two in the playoffs
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