ECB should be ashamed of this failed cover-up
It was the only thing they could do. they had no choice. But would alex Hales have been so swiftly dropped by England yesterday, after failing a second test for recreational drug use, had the ECB succeeded in keeping the whole sorry saga quiet?
they may have done the right thing eventually but, as Hales implied when he hit back at England through his management company last night, serious questions remain over the ECB’s handling of a case they appeared to want to brush under the carpet before their hand was forced by the emergence of the real story.
Let’s be clear: anything but the dropping of Hales would have been a dereliction of the duty the ECB have to the image of a game. Especially with the unprecedented chance to seize the attention of the sporting nation with this summer’s home world Cup and the ashes that follows.
If cricket really does want to inspire a new generation of enthusiasts, not only this summer but with their Hundred competition next year, they cannot afford to have the reputation of the game continually sullied by a serial offender.
Hales can only blame himself for the understandable and correct decision by managing director ashley Giles to drop him from the squad to face Ireland and Pakistan and for the world Cup, leaving his international future in jeopardy.
what can he expect after repeatedly letting down an increasingly exasperated management with his behaviour? From his role in the Bristol brawl that saw him narrowly avoid criminal charges to the allegations of infidelity that are said to have damaged the team dynamic in the Caribbean.
Now this, the most stupid and avoidable of his crimes, to be caught taking recreational drugs for a second time after he had vowed to ‘stop making mediocre decisions’.
But for all the credit Giles deserves for again making a difficult decision — to follow his demotion of batting coach Mark Ramparakash and telling Paul Farbrace to leave immediately after he had agreed to join warwickshire — the ECB remain in the dock for their handling of this latest crisis.
For it is impossible to escape the conclusion the governing body attempted to cover up the news by claiming that Hales was missing Nottinghamshire matches for ‘personal reasons’. If the news had not been broken by a journalist last Friday, it appears certain Hales, as he clearly feels himself, would have still been in England’s squad and his automatic three- week suspension would have been hidden by the implication his complicated private life was at the heart of his Notts absence.
Sportsmail understands national selector Ed smith, coach trevor Bayliss, selector James taylor and captain Eoin Morgan did not know about Hales’s failed drugs test when they picked their provisional world Cup squad two weeks ago.
But ECB chief executive tom Harrison and other senior figures surely must have known the truth by the time Hales took that break from Notts action just three days later, when it was said he would still be heading to Cardiff for England’s pre- season training camp and medical tests last weekend.
It was only when the real story emerged that the still tight-lipped ECB went into damage-limitation mode amid calls from respected England captains-turned-pundits Mike atherton and Michael Vaughan for tough action against Hales.
the ECB were paranoid about possible legal implications when they made a hash of their handling of the Ben stokes case last year. they have also turned their introduction of a controversial new format of the game — the Hundred — into an unmitigated PR disaster.
No doubt they felt they had to be careful of employment law and follow the correct procedures and respect their duty of care towards an employee before they came to yesterday’s conclusion.
But they have confused the matter and insulted the intelligence of cricket fans by refusing to reveal the reasons behind Hales’s absence until they were forced to do so by the media. Now the correct decision has been reached, it can only be hoped the affair will not damage the world Cup hopes of an England team who had been making serene progress towards a tournament they have an excellent chance of winning.
England have a habit of suffering late dramas before world Cups and this one is proving no different, despite the four years of investment in a white-ball revolution the ECB are desperate to see culminate in their first 50- over global trophy success at Lord’s in July. First came the controversy over the introduction of Jofra archer into the squad, with three of England’s bowlers questioning his inclusion despite claims of quotes being taken out of context. and now this. so much of the success of Morgan’s limitedovers England has come from the evolution of a tight-knit, selfless team and they must now regroup without Hales, their back-up opener who remains a considerable white-ball talent.
James Vince, a better limited-overs batsman than a test one, is a more than decent alternative.
and England’s famed spirit can hardly be damaged by the exclusion of bad egg Hales, a figure players and management had been growing increasingly tired of.
Giles got it right just in time yesterday — whatever Hales alleges he was told — but the ECB have yet again shot themselves in the foot with their ill-judged handling of a difficult situation.
they can only hope this time, unlike on so many previous occasions before world Cups, it will not cost them dear.