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Despite Bancroft being the leading Sheffield Shield run-scorer over the past couple of seasons, Australia’s hierarchy in January decided on promoting Steven Smith to open and shoehorning Cameron Green at No. 4 following Warner’s retirement. Matthew Renshaw was selected as the reserve batter, consigning Bancroft, 31, to the outer.
Australia captain Pat Cummins contacted Bancroft at the time to reassure him that he would remain firmly in Test consideration. The last of his 10 Tests was during the 2019 series against England.
“Naturally I was very disappointed. I would have loved to be in that environment,” Bancroft told reporters in Perth on Friday. “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.”
Bancroft finished second overall on the run charts in the home-and-away competition with 778 runs at 48.62 and three hundreds. For the second straight season, he faced the most balls. Those stats are made more impressive with Bancroft having had to mostly contend with difficult batting conditions at the WACA this season.
“It’s been a challenging back half of the season. We’ve played on some challenging wickets,” Bancroft said. “It’s been nice to fight through some tough periods. I tried to be really consistent.”
WA will host Tasmania in the five-day final starting on March 21 at the WACA after a remarkable series of results went their way in a compelling last round. After Tasmania were stunned by lowly South Australia in Hobart, WA rocketed to the top of the ladder and clinched a home final for the third straight year with an impressive victory over Victoria.
“We have no idea what has transpired in the last week. You couldn’t script it. The gods were towering over us,” Bancroft said. “It’s huge [a home final]. We know the conditions and what we’re going to face.
“There were times this season when we didn’t look like we were going to make the final. We had to dig deep. We feel like we’ve had to work hard.”
“At the start of every season, we say it’s not eleven players who will get you to the final, it’s 20-plus who are going to get you there,” Bancroft said. “It’s a big squad mentality and we push that and emphasise that. It’s been a great opportunity for everyone to be part of.”
Cementing themselves as the dominant force in Australian domestic cricket, WA are closing in on a hat-trick of Shield titles to go along with their three-peat in the Marsh Cup.
WA last completed the feat in the Shield in the late 1980s.
“I know for our group, it [Shield] is the pinnacle of Australian domestic cricket,” Bancroft said. “As we saw in the last round, there’s ebbs and flows…all sorts of chaos. I think that’s the beautiful thing about longform cricket.”
Having overcome his disappointment from a couple of months ago, Bancroft is hoping to finish another prolific season with the ultimate success. And he’ll be preparing for the final in usual meticulous fashion.
“I’ll do the same things I normally do every day…keep that consistency,” he said. “You get to play in finals because you do things well in the season and that doesn’t need to change.”
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
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