Morgan admits Hales might not be welcome

ENGLAND

V AFGHANISTAN

ICC World Cup

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Eoin Morgan cannot say if Alex Hales would be welcomed back into England’s World Cup dressing room but is willing to give Jason Roy every chance to prove a replacement batsman will not be needed.

Captain Morgan has recovered well from the painful back spasm which saw him limp from the field during last week’s victory over the West Indies and plans to play against Afghanistan today, but there was worse news over Roy.

An MRI scan revealed the Surrey opener had torn his left hamstring and would miss the game at Old Trafford as well as Friday’s Headingley date with Sri Lanka. England have not made the grade of the tear public and there are concerns his absence may be ongoing.

With James Vince lined up to deputise, England are keen to avoid rushing to conclusions on Roy’s prognosis, but the possibility of an injury call-up before the competition concludes has inevitably brought Hales’ name into the frame.

The experienced 30-yearold was inked into the squad until news broke that he was serving a 21-day ban for twice breaching the ECB’S recreational drugs policy, opening the door for Vince.

Morgan said last month there had been “a complete breakdown in trust” between Hales and his teammates, with the implication being that bridging the gap would be a lengthy process.

With question marks now surrounding Roy’s readiness for the rigours ahead, Morgan hinted that national selector Ed Smith could be the man to determine Hales’ fate.

“I think it would be a case of speaking to Ed because ultimately Ed gets the final call and say on who is involved in the 15,” he said.

“Then it’s addressing how that would look in a changing room set-up. I’ve not been part of any discussions simply because I’ve been firmly focused on managing the players and everything else that’s ongoing.

“When we selected the squad we did have conversations on underlying replacements for particular players. So they are always ongoing in the background and I’m not involved in a lot of them.”

Morgan went on to suggest that Hales, who has only played two competitive innings this season, might not be welcomed with open arms.

“If Ed Smith came to myself and [head coach] Trevor Bayliss and said he felt that Alex was the best option, we would have to assess how that would sit in the changing room and the stigma it would bring with Alex coming back in,” he said.