I wasn’t true to myself, says Bancroft

SYDNEY: Australia opener Cameron Bancroft has said that he had a tough time dealing with his suspension, and spoke of how time spent away from cricket helped him learn “one of the big lessons” in life.

“Being serious about cricket is important,” Bancroft said.

“But I think it’s also about being able to realise the game is just a game of cricket. One of the big lessons that I learned last year was about being true to yourself.”

“There is no doubt that I wasn’t as true to myself as I could have been at times ... you learn from mistakes that you make, and you try and be better. At the end of the day, what you do and your actions is completely up to you. I made a mistake, and I’ll learn from it and move forward and get better,” he said.

The 26-year-old revealed he carried his Baggy Green along for his county stint with Durham, and said it served as motivation in him reclaiming his spot in the Test side for the Ashes.

Bancroft is all set to return to international cricket after almost 17 months. His last international outing was in the infamous Cape Town Test in March 2018, after which he, Steve Smith and David Warner were banned for their part in the ball-tampering incident.

Since serving his nine-month suspension, Bancroft has played in the Sheffield Shield and county cricket – he captained Durham this season – apart from T20 franchise cricket, but a Test return was always the end goal. Carrying the Baggy Green along kept him focussed.

“It’s good motivation, isn’t it?” he said. “To look at it and go ‘yeah, I’m playing cricket, but there’s something bigger I eventually want to get back to’.

“I guess it was good motivation to keep working hard ... to keep training. It was a little bit of inspiration and motivation to keep my goals and myself focussed.”

On Friday, he was named in the 17-man Ashes squad, and speaking a few hours later, Bancroft was still coming to terms with it.

“Probably, it hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said. “I’m sure I’m sitting by myself and I’ll digest it all. I’m extremely excited and proud to be selected in this squad again.”