'I had let down my family, friends, team-mates down' - Alex Hales issues apology post drug ban

Hales, who was all set to play a key role in England's World Cup campaign, played in the ODI series against West Indies in March and was set to be named in the squad to face Pakistan in May, before the news of two failed drug tests broke out. Having being named in the preliminary World Cup squad, Hales was initially handed a 21-day ban but after the news became public, the ECB decided to drop him from the squad altogether. 

The 30-year-old has now issued an open apology to all his team-mates, friends and family members, saying that he regrets what he did, and his only aim going forward was to focus on cricket and put everything he did in the past behind him. 

"I wanted to tell the guys how I was feeling and then just to finish off, wanted them to know I was 100% focused on the cricket now, wanted to move forward, to put those mistakes of the past behind me." he added.