"Felt that I needed to allow myself to be a little bit disappointed" - Cameron Bancroft reflects on his Test snub
Australia batter Cameron Bancroft has opened up on his snub from the Test side despite performing well in the Sheffield Shield. Bancroft admitted to being disappointed and suggested that he needed to feel those emotions to move forward in the right way.
With legendary opener David Warner bowing out of Test cricket earlier this year, 31-year-old Bancroft was one of the frontrunners to replace him. The reason is his consistent run in the Sheffield Shield, where he mustered over 1600 runs over the last couple of seasons.
Nevertheless, with Steve Smith expressing his desire to open the innings, the selectors overlooked Bancroft. Speaking to reporters in Perth, the Aussie batter underlined his disappointment and said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"Naturally I was very disappointed. I would have loved to be in that environment. There were some consolations to come out of it...allowing myself to experience what I was experiencing. Sometimes as players in sport, it's about moving on to the next thing. But on this occasion, I felt that I needed to allow myself to be a little bit disappointed and that was actually okay. Once that digested, you bring yourself back to what's important and what you need to do."
The opening batter made his international debut during the 2017-18 Ashes series, showing plenty of promise at the top of the order. He landed in controversy after his role in the ball-tampering saga on the South Africa tour in 2018. The right-hander returned to the setup for the 2019 Ashes series, but could not quite deliver.
"The gods were towering over us" - Cameron Bancroft on Western Australia reaching the Shield final
With Western Australia booking a place in the Shield final after South Australia's upset win over Tasmania, Bancroft acknowledged that the result stunned them.
"We have no idea what has transpired last week. You couldn't script it. The gods were towering over us. It's huge [a home final]. We know the conditions and what we are going to face. There were times this season when we didn't look like we are going to make it to the final. We had to dig deep. We feel like we've had to work hard."
The final of the Sheffield Shield will be played from March 21 to 25.