Cameron Bancroft eyeing Australia recall after completing ball-tampering ban

Cameron Bancroft is eyeing a recall to Australia's Test team following the conclusion of his ban for ball tampering.

Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner were punished by Cricket Australia for the parts they played in the plot to alter the ball in the Cape Town Test against South Africa in March 2018.

The opening batsman - who will captain Durham in the Specsavers County Championship and Royal London One-Day Cup this season - scored three fifties in eight Tests before his suspension, including a top score of 82 against England in Brisbane during the 2017-18 Ashes series.

"The aspiration to play Test cricket is certainly in my mind and where I'd love to be one day. But I also can't be there. I'm here right now," Bancroft said on the eve of his Durham debut, at home to Sussex in the Championship.

"[Playing for Australia] would mean a lot to me, definitely. But I also know that I've got a lot of great things in my life.

"Even just playing club cricket back home in Perth, it's a game I felt like where you get self-absorbed and single-minded in your pursuits to achieve things.

"At the forefront is just the enjoyment of it all. If I do that then I know the results will take off themselves. Hopefully it will happen one day."

Bancroft was hit with a nine-month ban following the Newlands scandal, with Smith and Warner receiving year-long suspensions.

Smith and Warner, currently playing in the Indian Premier League for Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively, seem almost certain to make Australia's World Cup and Ashes squads.

"We all make mistakes and I guess it's how you're able to grow as a person, in admitting and being honest with yourself about those mistakes," added Bancroft.

"I certainly have been and as a person that's something that I'm completely accountable for. I wouldn't have it any other way."

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