Bancroft closes in on recall
CAMERON Bancroft has further perfected his short-leg fielding at Australia’s main training session before the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, where the opener is within touching distance of a recall.
Bancroft, returning to Australia’s Test squad for the first time since serving a ninemonth ban for his role in the Cape Town cheating scandal, and incumbent Marcus Harris remain locked in a tight battle to open with David Warner in the series opener tomorrow.
Selectors had been mulling a top three of Warner, Harris and Bancroft should Usman Khawaja have been unavailable because of his hamstring injury.
Khawaja passed his fitness test on Monday in Australia’s marathon session that was extended because rain was predicted for last night.
The speed in which the 32year-old sprinted between the wickets, under the watchful supervision of team staff, suggests either Harris or Bancroft will be squeezed out of the XI in Birmingham.
Warner left the nets alongside the team physio after copping a nasty blow, but management insist it is nothing more serious than a bruise.
One of the more intriguing scenes at Edgbaston was the pairing of Harris and Steve Waugh working together to deliver sharp close-in catches for Bancroft. Harris and Waugh took turns hitting the ball at Bancroft, ensuring he was able to work on reacting to a left-hander and right-hander.
Bancroft’s pain tolerance and reflexes at bat-pad, a fielding position generally reserved for the most inexperienced player in the team, is legendary. Even Waugh, who saw plenty in a 168-Test career and is now serving as an Ashes consultant at Justin Langer’s invitation, has been stunned.
“The one thing I have been amazed by is Cameron Bancroft’s short leg practise,” he said.
“I had a session with him the other day and I’ve never seen anything like it. I hit probably 40 balls to him at close range, back in our day he might have caught 10 of those. I think he caught 39. He’s the best short leg I’ve ever seen.
“When we were playing, no one wanted to be in at short leg and it was like a torture chamber to put someone in there but he just loves it.”
Bancroft displayed similar stoicism in his match-winning knock of 93 not out against teammates last week, during which he copped several blows on a borderline dangerous pitch. Tim Paine joked Bancroft seemingly has a “screw loose” because “he seems to enjoy getting hit on the body, it seems to make him bat better”.