ECB hand three-week ban to Alex Hales for recreational drugs use
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Alex Hales, who made himself unavailable for his county just seven days ago for 'personal reasons', has been banned for 21 days for recreational drug use by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The ECB have refused to release an official statement on the matter, stating confidentiality.
The English opener hasn’t been a part of his county Nottinghamshire’s Royal London Cup campaign, with the club stating last Thursday that he had “made himself unavailable for selection citing personal reasons” and didn’t set any date for his potential return. However, the Guardian today reported that Hales has been tested positive for a recreational drug in recent weeks and the England selectors are not thought to have known about the test result at the time the squad for the World Cup was announced.
As per ECB’s policy, all professional men’s cricketers in England and Wales, along with all the centrally contracted women’s players, are subject to hair follicle tests at the start and end of every season, and Hales has failed for the second time in his career.
The ECB has refused to release an official statement on the matter, with a spokesperson for the organisation saying, "We have a duty of confidentiality, therefore we are unable to provide any further comment".
The first offence has been treated as a health and welfare issue, and then the players are offered advice and support with few people being notified. They are the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA; the players' union) director of development and welfare, the ECB anti-doping and recreational drugs manager, the chief medical officers of the ECB and the county involved. However, the second violation will result in a three-week ban and a 5 percent fine of the player's annual salary.
Given it is Hales' second offence, he has been awarded this ban but his past record may hold against his selection for the World Cup squad. Hales was banned for six white-ball games (four of them suspended) and fined ÂŁ17,500 by the ECB for his part in the Bristol brawl that led to Ben Stokes' arrest and subsequent acquittal.
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