Captain Eoin Morgan admits he may be forced to turn to exiled batsmen Alex Hales as England’s injury problems mount ahead of Tuesday’s game against Afghanistan at Old Trafford.
This article was brought to you in partnership with Betfair Exchange. Always gamble responsibly
Hales was dropped from the preliminary squad in the wake of a 21-day suspension for recreational drug use that came to light just weeks before the tournament began, with Morgan saying there had been a “complete breakdown in trust” at the time.
After injuries to Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and the captain himself, Morgan says they would have to assess how his inclusion “would sit in the changing room”.
Speaking to BBC Sport ahead of tomorrow’s game in Manchester, Morgan said: “If (national selector) Ed Smith felt that Alex was the best option, we would have to assess how that would sit in the changing room and the stigma it would bring.”
Morgan maintained that despite MRI scans confirming opener Roy suffered a torn hamstring whilst fielding in England’s comfortable win over the West Indies on Friday, there had been no discussions over potential replacements should Roy fail to recover.
“It’s not a conversation that we have had with Ed Smith or (coach) Trevor Bayliss. We have not considered replacing any players yet. When we did the original selection, we outlined a number of players that could replace players if they got injured, but since then we haven’t spoken to the selection panel.”
England will look to shrug off their injury worries when the sides meet in Manchester on Tuesday from 10:30am.
