Alex Hales insists he will be cheering for England during the World Cup despite his withdrawal from the squad last month.
The Nottinghamshire opener was removed from all England squads after a newspaper report said he was serving a 21-day ban for a second positive test for the use of recreational drugs.
The 30-year-old was due to be part of the 15-man World Cup squad England named on Tuesday but he can now look forward to a stint with the Barbados Tridents in the seventh season of the Caribbean Premier League.
Welcome to the CPL Alex Hales!!! Barbados Tridents make the first pick of the #CPLDraft !!!! #BiggestPartyInSport #CPL19 pic.twitter.com/M5gMux9GkX — CPL T20 (@CPL) May 22, 2019
Speaking after being selected as the first pick in the CPL draft on Wednesday, Hales said that he remains fully supportive of the England side as they bid for World Cup glory.
"I'm still a fan and wish all the boys all the best. What we have done over the last few years has been unbelievable," Hales told reporters in an interview televised by Sky Sports.
"I will be (keeping an eye on the World Cup). The guys deserve to win it and I'll be sat there watching and cheering."
Hales refused to comment on his feelings about seeing the World Cup squad being announced on Tuesday without him in it, saying: "I'm not here to talk about that."
He was picked ahead of the likes of West Indies captain Jason Holder and opener Chris Gayle for the CPL which starts on September 4.
The tournament overlaps with the Vitality Blast in which Hales is expected to play for Nottinghamshire – with the first of four quarter-finals starting on the same day as the CPL.
Hales has a white-ball only contract with his county, meaning he will now not be playing until the Blast gets underway in July.
The right-hander is excited at the prospect of featuring in the CPL and also to returning to the field for Nottinghamshire after a difficult period off the field.
"I just want to get back playing what I love most and that's cricket," Hales added.
"This is such a good opportunity to go and play at a ground where I have such fond memories of – the Kensington Oval – and play in a big tournament in some different conditions.
"I'm really looking forward to getting back out there. I've got a few things to do with the ECB, there's obviously a process to go through and then I start training I guess.
"I'm going to enjoy a mixture of some downtime and then get preparing for the Blast."
ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '76980726-661b-4681-bef7-7f53d5fa10d8');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:cricket');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Hales will cheer on England during World Cup'});
