Watch the first Ashes Test on Thursday from 10am on Sky Sports Cricket
Saturday 27 July 2019 10:53, UK
Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft says he will learn from his mistakes and will be true to himself after he was recalled to the Test squad for the Ashes.
The opener's selection in the squad on Friday, along with David Warner and Steve Smith, brings all three players back into the fold for the first time since the ball-tampering incident in South Africa in 2018.
Bancroft was the last of the trio to get a recall after serving the shortest ban of nine months but that still gave him plenty of time to ponder his future, and he says he will trust his own values from now on.
"One of the big lessons that I learnt last year was about being true to yourself. There is no doubt that I wasn't as true to myself as I could have been at times," the 26-year-old said.
"You learn from those mistakes that you make and you try and be better moving forward. At the end of the day, what you do and your actions are completely up to you. I made a mistake and I'll learn from it and move forward and get better."
Bancroft was given the lightest punishment by Cricket Australia because he was adjudged to have been led astray by his then captain and vice-captain.
The Western Australian, who was playing his eighth Test when he took a piece of sandpaper onto the field at Newlands in Cape Town, is determined to make the most of his second chance.
"There were definitely times when I was challenged, a lot, but you go through those moments and you learn a lot about what you need to do to keep moving forward," he added.
"If you'd asked me 18 months ago if I'd be sitting here now, it would have been the last thing on my mind but it is what it is now.
"It probably hasn't completely sunk in yet. I'm sure sitting by myself tonight I'll digest it all, but of course I'm extremely proud and excited to be selected in this squad again."
Bancroft accepts that he is likely to be booed by the Edgbaston crowd if he gets selected for the first test, which starts on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Cricket.
"It doesn't bother me too much," he said. "It is what it is. People will react how they want to react. Hopefully I can use it if people want to be like that, to give you energy to perform well."
