PAK vs AUS: "It's Specialist Position" - Cameron Bancroft Stakes Claim On David Warner's Opening Slot

The ongoing AUS vs PAK Test series is the last international Test series of veteran Australian opener David Warner. Warner played a brilliant 164-run knock in the first Test match of the series and came up with innings of 38 and 6 runs respectively in the second Test match in Melbourne. Now, Warner will play the last Test match of his international career in Sydney from January 3.

As David Warner is retiring from Test cricket, the team management has started to search for his replacement. On being asked by Warner, he had mentioned Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris to be one of the prime contenders to replace him in the red ball format.

However, another Australian batsman has now staked his claim on the Test opener spot. Cameron Bancroft, who has been scoring a lot of runs in Australia’s domestic cricket believes that he can replace David Warner in the Test format.

While speaking to the news agency AAP, Cameron Bancroft stated that he has opened the innings for ten years in his first-class career and it is not an easy place to bat. Bancroft further added that he tried to find many ways to flourish his Test career.

Cameron Bancroft eyes Test opener spot after David Warner’s retirement

Cameron Bancroft said, “I’ve opened the batting in Shield cricket for over 10 years. It’s not an easy place to bat. It comes with challenges, and my whole career I’ve problem-solved trying to find ways to flourish in those sorts of circumstances. Some players have switched and gone and opened the batting and done really well. But not everyone puts their hand up to go and open the batting.”

“I feel like it probably is a specialist position and it’s certainly a really challenging one. But a very rewarding one as well.”

Speaking further in the conversation Cameron Bancroft revealed that he has been in touch with the Australian selectors for over 12 months and has been asking for suggestions on where can he improve.

Cameron Bancroft said, “I’ve had some conversations (with selectors) over the last 12 months or so and asked some questions about what I can do to improve.I’m always looking to improve and get better. I wanted that feedback from them. But I guess it always comes down to scoring runs. So, I’ve just tried to go out and do the best I can no matter what format of the game that I’ve been playing.”

Cameron Bancroft was the leading run scorer in the previous edition of the Sheffield Shield and scored 945 runs at an average of 59.05.

Cameron Bancroft was one of the best Australian Test batsmen a few years back before he got engaged in the Sandpaper Gate scandal in 2018.

Australian players including David Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft were handed over bans after the incident. Bancroft was caught applying sandpaper on the ball during a Test match against South Africa due to which he was banned from playing international cricket for several months.

On the other hand, David Warner and Steve Smith knew about the incident due to which they were handed over bans. Warner and Smith were able to return to the team after one year but Cameron Bancroft’s fortunes didn’t favor him and he has been out of the national team for over four years.