Since the Hales news came out, there’s been a lot of talk on the circuit about drugs. The truth is, I’m not personally aware of them. You hear plenty of rumours but I’ve never actually heard anyone admit to having taken anything, or said to me, “Do you want some?”

A few years ago I went to an awards do and got accused of taking cocaine by an ex-player who I looked up to. I really respected him, I grew up watching him play for England. He was actually a bit of a hero of mine. He accused me of being on coke with someone else who I was with, even though we clearly weren’t.

Eoin Morgan’s response was bang on. He’s clearly a man of principle and what he says goes. It must surely make Hales reflect on where he stands within that team. And yet apparently he just waltzed back into the set-up for their training camp in Cardiff and didn’t apologise or speak to anyone. You need to front up, acknowledge what an idiot you’ve been and try and rebuild your bridges from there. If I was playing in a team where I didn’t feel wanted it would kill me. I’d be crushed. There is no way I’d be able to perform.

It’s not been a good month for cricket’s image. The Alex Hepburn story put cricket on the front pages for the wrong reasons. Truth is, it’s rattled a lot of people on the circuit. It’s making a lot of people rethink their own actions. It’s a massive wake-up call for a lot of other people who will be on similar kinds of WhatsApp groups. Whether you’re a high-profile cricketer or not, when you tell someone in a bar or a club what you do for a living, some of the lads think it means they can get away with anything. It shakes you back into reality. It’s a reminder to players that there’s no excuse not to behave like a decent human being.