Australia opener Cameron Bancroft made sure he would be ready for an Ashes recall by packing his Baggy Green cap when he headed to England for a county stint with Durham.
Bancroft’s international career came to a shuddering halt when he was caught blatantly applying sandpaper to the ball during a Test against South Africa in Cape Town last year.
He tried to cover up a clear breach of cricket’s rulebook by trying to hide the tape inside his whites — a scene captured for all on television cameras — which only compounded his offence.
Cricket Australia banned Bancroft for nine months but then captain Steve Smith and David Warner his deputy, both received year-long suspensions for their roles in allowing and instigating the controversial incident.
But all three batsmen now find themselves back in the Ashes squad heading into next week’s first Test against England at Edgbaston.
While it was widely expected Smith and Warner, who both featured in Australia’s recent World Cup campaign, would return to Test duty when available given their proven records, Bancroft’s comeback was far less assured.
Indeed there were many who felt he was fortunate to be included in a 17-man squad announced from which fellow opener Joe Burns, who made 180 in Australia’s most recent Test against Sri Lanka at Canberra in February, was omitted.
But Bancroft, surprisingly appointed captain of Durham this season, did not lose faith and made sure he had his prized Australia cap with him when he travelled to England’s northeast.
