David Warner, Cameron Bancroft set to play in Darwin league
Details of the return to cricket of David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were made clearer on Tuesday 29 May with the announcement that the duo will participate in a regional limited-overs tournament in July.
The two batsmen will feature in Northern Territory (NT) Cricket’s Strike League, which includes both Twenty20 and one-day games in Darwin.
While Bancroft is available for the whole tournament, Warner will play two one-day matches on 21 and 22 of July, a statement from NT Cricket said.
Warner and Bancroft are serving 12-month and nine-month bans respectively for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal that engulfed Australian cricket after the tour of South Africa in March. Steve Smith, the former captain, is the third player under sanction.
While Cricket Australia’s sanction doesn’t allow them to play international cricket or first-class cricket in Australia, they have been encouraged to stay in touch with the game through participation in club cricket, and they are allowed to play in T20 leagues abroad.
“The Strike League is seen as the perfect opportunity for both Bancroft and Warner to play some cricket during the traditional Australian winter … Neither player is a stranger to the North with both having played in the Northern Territory previously,” the NT Cricket statement said.
Warner, who interacted with children in Darwin in one of his first public appearances after the scandal, said it was his recent trip that piqued his interest. “I’m really looking forward to playing in the Strike League in July. I heard so much about the competition while I was in Darwin earlier this month that I’m keen to be part of it,” he said.
Last week, Smith was confirmed as a marquee player at the Global T20 Canada league. Reports suggest that Warner too has joined the draft for the tournament, which is set to take place from June 28 to July 15.
Recently, Bancroft got the all clear to play in Western Australia's Premier Cricket league, while Warner has also been associated with a return to his Sydney club side Randwick Petersham.