Bancroft determines to put behind ball-tampering saga
Pic: Collected
||Desk Report||
Cameron Bancroft said he is looking to do well in the upcoming Ashes, putting behind his ball-tampering saga.
Bancroft, revealed that he "made a mistake" in relation to the ball-tampering saga in the Cape Town Test last year.
"I think being serious about cricket is important, but I think it's also about being able to realise the game is just a game of cricket," he said on Saturday (July 27). "One of the big lessons that I learned last year was about being true to yourself, Cricbuzz reports.
"There is no doubt that I wasn't as true to myself as I could have been at times (but) 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."
Bancroft also observed that he used his Test cap (Baggy Green No.451) that he received from Geoff Marsh in the Brisbane Test versus England in 2017 as a form of inspiration to get back into the national side.
"It's something you're obviously very proud of," Bancroft noted of his Test cap. "It's a very prestigious item to have and you take good care of it because it means something to you... and being able to see that is obviously really good to focus your goals, and where you want to be going.
"It's good motivation, isn't it? To look at it and go 'yeah I'm playing cricket but there's something bigger I eventually want to be able to get back to'. I guess it was good motivation to keep working hard... to keep my goals and keep focused," he added.
The opener, who cracked an impressive, undefeated hand of 93 in the warm-up game in Southampton, has also been in fine form for Durham in County circles this season, averaging 45.37 for the Division 2 side.
However, playing in the Ashes, with Bancroft set to face a hostile English crowd, would test the Western Australian opener's mental strength. The 26-year-old said that he is braced to face the hostile reception.
"It's all right, it doesn't bother me too much. People will react how they want to react. Hopefully, I can use it if people want to be like that, to give (me) energy to perform well. But I can't control that. I guess the journey that I've been through over the last 18 months, you get exposed to things like that. I'll just deal with it and keep moving forward."
