'Were the rules different then?' - Nick Compton lashes out at ECB for excluding Alex Hales from England's training group

Alex Hales wasn't included in the ECB's 55-man training group.

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Nick Compton
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Nick Compton. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images for ECB)

Alex Hales had has a tough time since the past one year. In the early summer of 2019, he was dropped from the England side from all formats due to his use of a recreational drug. This resulted in him losing the place in England’s World Cup 2019 squad, a team that eventually won the tournament. However, since then, Hales hasn’t played for England. A one-time promising opening batsman for England, Hales is fighting to revive his international career. But, it seems that the England and Wales Cricket Board hasn’t let it go yet.

On Friday, ECB announced a list of 55 players who were asked to return to training. Hales’ name was not included. This didn’t go down well with former England cricketer Nick Compton. The ex-opener lashed out at the board for not forgiving Hales for his mistake. He pointed out that Ben Stokes has made some errors but should be given a second opportunity. He questioned if the rules are different for different players.

“I find the Hales treatment ridiculous” – Nick Compton

“I find the Hales treatment ridiculous. I spent a month in the Caribbean with him (CPL) and he was keen to put his mistakes to bed. Some might say the leadership have got a bit ahead of themselves. Stokes made a pretty bad error some time ago, were the rules different then?!” the tweet by Compton read.

Compton might have got it spot on in his comparison to Hales’ situation to Stokes. The English all-rounder who became the hero of the World Cup final had got into trouble in 2017. This led him to miss the Ashes in Australia followed by a few more important series due to his brawl incident in Bristol. Interestingly, Hales was also involved in the same incident, even though he wasn’t the main culprit.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain also backed Hales for a comeback. He felt that the batsman had already paid the price for his mistake. “He did the crime but he has served the time and missed out on a World Cup win and one of the great days at Lord’s. Is that not enough of a price to pay?” Hussain said on the Sky Cricket Show as per Daily Mail.

However, England ODI and T20I skipper Eoin Morgan has shown his reluctance in accepting Hales back into the side. He said that the dashing opener needs more time to actually win back the trust of his teammates.

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