Published: Jan 03, 2019, 05:33 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 03, 2019, 05:33 AM (IST)
Two games into his return to competitive cricket after completing his nine-month suspension period for the ball-tampering scandal, Cameron Bancroft has not made the impact he or his Big Bash League franchise Perth Scorchers would have desired, but the batsman is in good spirits according to his captain.
Bancroft, whose ball-tampering ban ended on December 29, was ushered straight back into the Scorchers setup and made two off three balls in his comeback game against Hobart Hurricanes last week. On Wednesday, in his second game, the 26-year-old scored 19 from 23 balls, hitting one six, as Scorchers lost to Sydney Thunder by one runs. (ALSO READ: Year-ender 2018: Top cricket controversies of 2018)
His BBL captain Ashton Turner described Bancroft as being in a positive frame of mind.
“He came away for our first couple of games on tour just to help out around the group,” Turner said Wednesday. “I have never seen him so bubbly around the group. He’d come to training and just throw balls at batters, hit high balls at training. As a friend I’m really proud of the journey he has been on over the past nine months. (ALSO READ: Australia team review: Ball tampering, losing streak reflection of 12 dark months)
“He has changed a lot as a person and he’s discovered some things outside of cricket which he probably wouldn’t have got the chance to do had the incident in South Africa not happened. He’s such a good player, he’s going to ease his way back into this tournament and have a really big impact for us.”
Bancroft re-emerged into public life with an explosive television interview last month in which he confirmed David Warner asked him to rough up the ball in South Africa and claimed he went along with it “to fit in” and because he “didn’t know any better”. Bancroft also said he almost gave up cricket to become a yoga teacher in the darkest days of his exile.
