Cameron Bancroft says his passion to return to the Australian Test side has faded as the national team scrambles for a solution to its batting woes following a disastrous Cape Town collapse.
Australia returned to Cape Town last week for the first time since the infamous 2018 sandpaper scandal that saw Bancroft banished from Test selection.Â
As the national side capitulated in the series decider, Bancroft recorded his 34th first class century and 15th in seven years, hammering 186 for Western Australia against South Australia in the Sheffield Shield at Adelaide Oval.
“I’m definitely not as feverish now about my opportunities to play at that level,” Bancroft told ABC Sport’s Summer Grandstand.
“I’m fully accepting of the fact that the likelihood is that I won’t play at that level again. If an opportunity came I’d be very grateful and I’d take it, but I’m at peace with playing at the level and the opportunity I had there.”
Despite being the leading run-scorer in the 2022/23 Shield season and second in the 2023/24 campaign for WA, Bancroft wasn’t selected for the Test series against the West Indies and Pakistan that summer, with selectors opting for David Warner to complete a retirement tour and then trialling Steve Smith in the opener position.
Bancroft revealed he still isn’t quite sure why he wasn’t picked despite his strong domestic form.
“It’s a great question. I’m not sure … it just didn’t go my way,” he said.
Cameron Bancroft has remained a prolific run scorer at the Sheffield Shield level but remains out of favour with the Australian selectors. (Getty Images: Mark Brake)
“Naturally you feel a bit of dejection. It did bring me down for sure. When you want something so badly and you feel like you’ve given 100 per cent and it’s not quite enough; naturally you feel those emotions.Â
“The reasons why you play and enjoy the game get questioned. A big part of my own career is finding peace with that.”
The Australian men’s side has now had nine different opening combinations in their past 19 Tests and is facing a race against time to find a solution, with a home series against New Zealand in December and overseas tours of India and England in 2027.
Bancroft believes the national team is lacking chemistry due to the inconsistent nature of the top order.
“There’s no doubt continuity is something that has been lacking a little bit,” he said.
“From the outside there’s lots of changes and thoughts and theories. It’s probably something that hasn’t been figured out or solved yet.”
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