Cameron Bancroft has produced a breakthrough Sheffield Shield century to end a horror form slump that cost him a spot in the Test team.
Bancroft struck an unbeaten 105 off 255 balls as Western Australia declared at 3-243 in their second innings against South Australia at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.
The declaration set the Redbacks a victory target of 364 off 90 overs.
South Australia ended the first session of the final day at 2-62 from 20 overs.
Bancroft started the season as a genuine chance to win the vacant opener’s spot in the Test side following two mammoth years with the bat.
But his form turned to mush so quickly over the past two months that critics even started questioning whether he deserved to keep his spot in the WA side.
Bancroft started the Shield season with scores of 0, 0, 8 and 2.
In his two matches for Australia A, which effectively doubled as a bat-off for the vacant top-order spot in the Test team, Bancroft scored 0, 16, 3 and 0.
Nathan McSweeney ended up winning the Test call-up, and Bancroft went on to make 12 and 11 in his next Shield match against Victoria, before opening the current Shield clash with a first-ball duck, despite not appearing to have edged the ball.
It continued a rotten run of luck for Bancroft, with a number of his dismissals this season appearing to be umpiring errors.
But his luck finally changed.
Bancroft made it to stumps on Monday unbeaten on 71, and he had one edge fall short and another edge fly too high for the fielder on Tuesday on the way to reaching his 30th first-class century.
The 32-year-old raised his bat and helmet to the sky upon reaching triple figures, with the knock an important step in his bid to get back in the conversation for a Test call-up.
Bancroft was on 103 when he was dropped by Ben Manenti, who did his best but couldn’t hold on to his one-handed diving attempt at point.
WA declared a short time later, and they made early inroads into SA’s top-order by snaring the important scalps of first-innings centurion Henry Hunt (two) and Daniel Drew (15).
