David Warner and Cameron Bancroft considering a return to club cricket

Following the ball-tampering controversy during the third Test of the South Africa series in March, Cricket Australia announced the judgement to impose a one-year ban on the then captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and a nine-month ban on young Cameron Bancroft. Warner was dubbed as the principal instigator behind the conspiracy, while Bancroft was caught live on camera tampering with the ball using a sandpaper on the field.

But there might be a slight chance they will be back on the field playing competitive cricket. Though the ban stops the three of them from playing international and domestic cricket in Australia, they are allowed to participate in club matches. The Northern Territory administrators seem to be keen on taking advantage of this situation and are eager to rope in the duo of Warner and Bancroft for their club cricket Strike League, though separately.

Northern Territory teams eager to rope them

As per reports, Bancroft could make a comeback to the Top End. The NT officials are hopeful that the contract with Bancroft could be struck for the second edition of Strike League to be played in July.

Warner has also shown considerable interest in playing in NT, said NT cricket Chief Executive Joel Morrison. “He does seem interested.” Joel said, “Now we’ve just got to see if the timings align depending on what else he’s up to. But he has shown some interest and we’ll definitely pick up those conversations.”

Morrison was quick to start his work to get the two players into Northern Territory. He reached out to the people concerned as soon as things died out in the aftermath of the saga.

“Once the sanctions were handed down by Cricket Australia and the dust had settled, I reached out to Cricket Australia and then the players’ managers to give them the opportunity to play some cricket over the winter,” Morrison was quoted saying.

“We offered them the opportunity to help them get back and play … if they wanted to pick up the bat sooner rather than later.”

“The opportunity to have the likes of David Warner or Cameron Bancroft, if they’re available and willing to play, would be fantastic for us. It’s very rare that young players from the Northern Territory get exposed to players like that,” he stated.

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