England squad "lost trust" in Alex Hales and demanded World Cup axe, reveals Eoin Morgan

The Nottinghamshire batsman was suspended for 21 days after reportedly failing two drugs tests and will play no part this summer

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Alex Hales was expunged from England's World Cup squad after senior players deemed his multiple failed drugs tests had damaged the culture around the side.

The 30-year-old has been withdrawn from the country's plans this summer after it was revealed he had served a 21-day ban for twice testing positive for recreational substances.

Hales had initially been included in the 15-man provisional group for the tournament after being given the suspension by the ECB, but has now been removed.

And England captain Eoin Morgan says a meeting between a handful of members of the limited overs squad led to them advising director of cricket Ashley Giles than Hales should be dropped.

"I found out on the Friday when the news broke, took some time to think about the impact it would have on the team and particularly its culture," Morgan told BBC Sport.

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"Given that we were meeting up on the Saturday I spoke with the coach and decided to meet with a group of the senior players to discuss the impact it would have.

"I mentioned team culture because we've worked extremely hard over the last 18 months to establish our culture and work towards values that everybody across all three formats could adhere to, respect and relate to.

"I think we've been at that stage for about six or seven months now, they are in place, and unfortunately this news broke and there has been a complete disregard for these values and there has been a complete breakdown in trust between Alex and the team.

"Everybody in the senior players' meeting agreed that the best decision for the team and the culture moving forward was for Alex to be deselected.

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Morgan's side begin preparations for the World Cup against Ireland

"We don't make that final call. I communicated this to Ashley Giles and obviously the decision was made. It's very important now that Alex uses the support that's around him now from the ECB and the PCA to try and turn things around."

While England get their highly-anticipated international summer underway when they face Ireland in Dublin, Hales is also expected to kick-start his campaign on Friday.

Having served his ban, the opener has been named in the Nottinghamshire squad for their Royal London One-Day Cup clash with Durham, following talks between the Outlaws and the player this week.

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