Alex Hales drug ban prompts review of ECB guidelines

Will Macpherson1 May 2019

The fallout from Alex Hales’s 21-day recreational drugs ban will see the ECB and PCA review the regulations around the issue – even though they were only changed in March.

The England and Wales Cricket Board hope to bring their regulations in line with rugby union. Last month, the Sale Sharks prop Jake Pope was banned for six months under the Rugby Football Union’s illicit drugs policy after testing positive for cocaine for the second time, which also saw him lose his right to anonymity. In cricket, currently only the identity of players who fail three tests – such as Durham’s Jack Burnham in 2017 – are made public.

Ashley Giles and Tom Harrison have felt restricted by the tightness of their own regulations regarding confidentiality in the case of Hales, who was dumped by England on Monday after his second failed test came to light.

Many of the first-class counties are in favour of such a move.

The ECB’s recreational drugs policy was brought in following the tragic death of Surrey batsman Tom Maynard, who was under the influence of drugs when electrocuted on a tube line in 2012, and were updated in March. In the changes made, which were not made public, it was decided that the Professional Cricketers’ Association would be informed of a player’s first failed test, so that they could provide the pastoral care required.

“The PCA is a key stakeholder in the policy along with the ECB and the 18 First-Class Counties,” a PCA spokesperson told Standard Sport.

“It is a policy that is now in its second version which came into place in March this year after review and consultation. It is a policy that is relatively new in the game and will always be reviewed and discussed between key stakeholders.

“The policy has a joint education programme behind it between the ECB and the PCA and a compulsory online education tutorial all players must complete. It is there for the welfare and protection of the the players.”

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