I told Morgan I couldn’t have Alex Hales In The World Cup Squad: Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes has revealed he clearly told the England captain Eoin Morgan he could not have Alex Hales in the World Cup squad.

Hales, just ahead of the World Cup, was found positive for the usage of recreational drugs and the England Cricket Board (ECB) had imposed a three-week suspension on the opener.

The 30-year old was, however, eligible for World Cup selection as his ban period would have been completed before the deadline day of the announcement of the squad.

But, England eventually decided that they would go into the World Cup squad without Hales even though he was an important member of the squad.

Now, Stokes has disclosed that the England skipper Eoin Morgan had approached the senior cricketers of the England side and had asked for their opinion over the whole situation.

Stokes thought about it and then conveyed to his skipper that he should not pick Hales.

According to Stokes, the reason why he was not in the favour of Hales to be picked was because he thought Hales broke the trust of the team.

The England team, after the 2015 World Cup, had turned into a unit where they had developed a lot of trust for each other and used to share everything among the group.

When Stokes found out that Hales hid his struggles from the group and didn’t let them know anything about the usage of recreational drugs, he found it hard to trust him going ahead.

“When Morgan asked directly what I would do, I came straight out with it no I can’t have him in the squad.”, Stokes wrote in his book On Fire.

“Alex as an individual had not felt able to share his struggles with a group that he’d spent so much time with, in a team environment over the past few years, that bothered us.” Stokes added.