New Delhi: Banned Australia cricketer Cameron Bancroft failed on his return to competitive cricket while playing for Desert Blaze in the NT Strike League in Darwin on Sunday. In the match against Southern Storm, the opener scored just one before getting dismissed by Blade Baxter.
Bancroft was suspended by Cricket Australia for 9 months from international and domestic cricket in Australia for his part in the infamous ball tampering scandal during Australia's third Test against South Africa earlier this year. Then skipper Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were handed 12 month bans.
Bancroft's score in his first match was similar to that of David Warner's, who was also dismissed for 1 while playing for Winnipeg Hawks in the Global T20 Canada. Only former skipper Smith did well on his return as he slammed a classy half-century (61 off 41 balls) while playing for the Toronto Nationals in Canada.
Earlier, before taking his maiden bow since being handed with the ban, Bancroft said that the whole ball tampering controversy made him 'very angry' but he has since managed to forgive himself.
"The last couple of months, it's been a bit of a roller-coaster. You certainly ride the waves of grieving. There's been times where I felt really sad, there's been times where I felt really angry," Bancroft was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia website.
"For me, in that situation, it was about me, and it was about my mistake, and it was about the poor decision I made. What anyone else thought or said didn't change the fact that I made a really bad decision and I've really had to forgive myself for that error I made."
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