Following a review of their recreational drug policy, the ECB introduced a series of changes, but the confidentiality policy was not among them.

Under the updated policy, first- and second-time offenders will be slapped with a heavier fine, with the sanction for the latter being raised from 5% of the player’s annual salary across teams to 10%, while the 21-day ban, which led to the subsequent public exposure and ouster of Alex Hales from England’s World Cup squad, was scrapped. However, there was no change to the rules of confidentiality, which had come under the scrutiny in the aftermath of the Hales incident.

As per the rules, first-time offenders will be brought to the notice of the ECB’s chief medical officer and a few other administrative officials, in addition to the director of development and welfare of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, in conjunction with whom the policy has been formulated, and the respective county’s chief medical officer.

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A second offence will be reported to the chief executive officers of the respective county, the PCA and the ECB, and, if the offending player is centrally contracted by the board, the director of men’s or women’s cricket. All the notified parties, however, are bound to keep the information confidential. Only in the event of a third offence does the ECB make details public.

The mandate meant that Hales’ ban became known to England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan and then head coach Trevor Bayliss through reports in the media. It led to a tumultuous sequence of events, with Hales being dumped from the World Cup squad, despite earlier assurances from the board against the same.

The decision to axe Hales was taken jointly, after consultation with Morgan and the team’s senior players, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, all of whom concurred that the incident had led to a breakdown in trust and highlighted a lack of respect for team values.

[caption id=”attachment_127095″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Alex Hales was denied a part in England’s history-making home summer in 2019, after he was served a 21-day ban for recreational drug use[/caption]

However, Ashley Giles, the England men’s team director, later accepted that the incident wouldn’t have escalated to the level it did and that Hales would still be in the England squad, but for the reveal in The Guardian. The events left the ECB facing accusations of a cover up.

The confidentiality policy was enforced in the wake of the tragic death of former Sussex batsman Tom Maynard, who was killed on the rails near Wimbledon Park tube station in south London, after a heavy night of drinking, in 2012.

But the uncertainty and suspicions around the Hales ban last year led to growing calls for any ban to be made public. However, there will be no change to the parties in the know when a player faces a drug ban, as things stand, despite an ECB spokesperson saying that there was further concurrence on bans being made public.

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“We can confirm that there has been an update to the Recreational Drugs Policy for 2020,” the spokesperson said. “This was part of a broad consultation involving stakeholders from the wider game, including first-class counties and PCA.

“The policy takes into account the important consideration of player welfare whilst ensuring there are meaningful sanctions for each violation. There was further consensus from all parties that any bans will be made public.”