Australia opener Cameron Bancroft has been ruled out of this week’s Sheffield Shield final at the WACA after sustaining a concussion following a cycling accident. The 31-year-old’s season ended prematurely after he fell off his bike and hit his head over the weekend, forcing his state team, Western Australia to pick a new opening partnership for the season finale against Tasmania. Bancroft was the second-leading run-scorer of the Sheffield Shield this season with 778 runs at 48.62, including three hundreds and four fifties. Over the last five seasons, no batter has scored as many Sheffield Shield runs as Bancroft who has amassed over 3000 runs in the competition.
The 31-year-old has been the mainstay of the batting, often bailing them out from crisis situations on tricky surfaces, the most recent being the win against Victoria which got Western Australia into the final. Bancroft's 778 runs at an average of 48.6 in the ongoing 2023-24 season is only bettered by Tasmania's Beau Webster (914 runs at 65.3).D’Arcy Short and Teague Willy are the frontrunners to take the first spot in the batting line-up. Bancroft has been making waves in the domestic circuit with consistent performances. He was once deemed as the fitting replacement for the departing David Warner as an opener. However, he was overlooked by the Australian management and Steve Smith was promoted up the order. His above statement, “It's been nice to fight through some tough periods” stems from the same proposition.
“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,” Bancroft has previously said on his desire for opener's role.
