Cameron Bancroft

A graceful and patient batsman unlike the hard-hitting batsmen in the modern era, Cameron Bancroft is a top-order right-handed batsman. His career can so far be remembered more for controversies rather than great accomplishments and he would be looking to change this soon. He plays for Western Australia in the Australian domestic circuit and represents Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League.

Bancroft was always seen as a Test batsman because of his sound technique. His coach also earmarked him as one of the batsmen to keep an eye out for following his domestic performances. He first made his mark in the 2014/15 season, when he scored 896 runs at an average of 47.15 in the Sheffield Shield. The highlight of that season was when Bancroft scored his maiden double-century against New South Wales. He batted for an astonishing 13 hours, showing his pedigree and patience as a Test batsman. He finished that Sheffield Shield season as the third highest run-scorer of the season. Cameron played a wonderful knock of 150 against India A in Chennai on a spinning track and displayed his effective technique to deal with the spinners.

Bancroft was selected in the Australian squad to tour Bangladesh in 2015 but it was cancelled due to security reasons. He finally made his international bow in a T20I match against India in Sydney. In November 2017, Cameron was named in Australia’s Test squad for the 2017–18 Ashes series. He replaced Matt Renshaw as the opening batsman. It was a good debut for Bancroft as he scored 82 runs in the second innings, winning Australia the first Test with a 10-wicket victory margin. In the following year, during Australia's tour of South Africa, Bancroft did something which proved to be the turning point of his career but in a very negative manner.

In the 3rd Test match between the Aussies and the Proteas, Bancroft was caught by the cameras tampering the ball using an unidentified object at that time. Later the object was confirmed to be sandpaper which Bancroft was using to roughen up one side of the ball. The plan was devised by the 'Leadership Group' of the Australian Cricket Team. Three players were suspended following the investigation in this scandal - Steve Smith (captain), David Warner (vice-captain) and Cameron Bancroft. Bancroft was suspended from all forms of cricket for a period of 9 months. He was also abandoned from taking up any leadership role for any side until one year from the end of his suspension.

Bancroft returned to cricket by participating in the 2018/19 BBL and had a strong season. He finished as the second-best batsman for Perth Scorchers. Later on, Cameron stroked a brilliant 158 for Durham in the English County Championship to send a timely reminder to the selectors for the 2019 Ashes. Bancroft will be looking to put the ghosts of the past behind and bring back some positivity which was seen in him during the earlier days of his career.