Freak accident costs Bancroft
West Australian captain Sam Whiteman is adamant the strength of his team is its depth after Test hopeful and Sheffield Shield run-machine Cameron Bancroft was ruled out of the final with concussion after a bike fall.
The opener has been forced out of Thursday’s clash against Tasmania at the WACA after the cycling accident on Sunday.
Bancroft has been a key to WA’s push for hattrick of Shield titles after another impressive season, where he is the second-highest run scorer in the competition with 778 at 48.62.
He and opening partner Whiteman recently became WA’s most prolific opening pair with 3567 runs in partnership, and Bancroft’s absence means WA will have to rejig their successful combination.
Despite losing Bancroft, which Whiteman said left him “gutted”, he was confident the array of players used by the back-to-back champions this season showed they could still be successful.
“It was nice to hear that he was actually OK,” he said.
“So, obviously gutted for him. He’s done some heavy lifting this year to get him into a final, and he’s been phenomenal over the last five years.
“(But) the strength of this team is the depth in the group. I think we’ve used 22 players throughout the season and every one of those players has played a big role in the team.
“Hopefully it will be a good week for the boys.”
But while Bancroft misses, WA all-rounder Aaron Hardie has been cleared to bowl in the final after recovering from a calf strain having also been pulled from a UK stint with Surrey by Cricket Australia.