Bancroft comfortable with his own methods

Australia opener Cameron Bancroft is keen to establish his own method of success than to base his game on someone else as he continues to establish himself in the Test team.

Bancroft made his debut in the first Ashes Test and promptly scored 82 not out in the second innings as the home side won by 10 wickets but had two failures in the second Test when the Aussies won in Adelaide.

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Australia have had plenty of successful opening combinations down the years, and also very different in personality and the way they bat, partners like Michael Slater and Mark Taylor or Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, who is Bancroft’s coach at Western Australia.

Bancroft was speaking at the unveiling of his place on the WACA’s walk of fame, reserved for all those West Australian cricketers to have played international cricket.

The 25-year-old Bancroft said: “I’ve certainly been through phases where I wanted to bat like this person or that person but the more your game evolves and you find yourself a little bit more, you’re comfortable with your method.

“If it works, it feels even better. For me now that’s the journey [by which] I’ve come to be in the place [I am in] now.”

One of the more intriguing battles in the two games of the Ashes so far has been between Bancroft and England seamer James Anderson and he is looking forward to resuming hostilities in the third Ashes Test, starting in Perth on Thursday.

Anderson certainly had the better of it in the last Test in Adelaide where he got the pink ball to swing prodigiously under lights.

Bancroft said: “I think it was a good experience, albeit a really short one, that second innings in Adelaide. When he’s able to swing the ball like that, he’s extremely hard work and he’s very, very damaging.

“That’s just a part of cricket isn’t it? Facing different conditions, and that’s probably a big part of the pink ball as well.

“I think I’ve gained a little bit of confidence from playing different periods so far in the Test series and hopefully I can keep learning from them and keep getting better.

“The last couple of years I’ve been able to play some county cricket in England where the ball does move a lot more sideways – swing and off the wickets as well.”

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