West Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist believes Cam Bancroft can play Test cricket once more | USAEMALL.com

West Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist says Cam Bancroft has not missed his chance to make a long-awaited Test return.

Bancroft hasn’t donned the Baggy Green since 2019, dropped after an Ashes Test at Lord’s.

However, with Australia’s top order on shaky ground in the red-ball arena, the veteran opener is one of a number in the frame to slot into the national set-up for this summer’s highly anticipated home Ashes.

National selectors have shown a reluctance to turn to Bancroft in recent seasons.

The 32-year-old boasts 11,706 career runs at 39.02 but has struggled in his 10 Tests, averaging just 26.23.

Bancroft was also part of a hotly contested ‘bat off’ at the start of last summer, and despite having been one of the country’s leading run makers for multiple seasons, his form deserted him at the pivotal moment.

But Gilchrist said his start to the current campaign would be the defining factor for an Ashes call-up.

“I think he’s still in the frame,” the Autism Association of WA ambassador said on Saturday.

“I think there are a number of ways they could go, particularly in that opening position the competition is on.

“Whoever starts the season well enough and looks like they have the confidence and the game at the right time, they’ll get a chance. So, I don’t think it’s passed him by for Cam Bancroft.

“He’s got to score runs, it’s as simple as that.

“And he’s done that over an extended period. There was probably one time where his opportunity might have been there, but runs just disappeared for a bit.

“But he’s just consistent over a long period of time. Like anyone in the conversation, it’s just about getting runs right at the start of the season. Put your name up there before the first Test.”

Bancroft will get his first chance to impress when WA open their Sheffield Shield campaign in a mouth-watering contest with New South Wales at the WACA on October 4.

The homegrown opener will go head-to-head with incumbent Sam Konstas, who hit a century in India this week while touring with Australia A.

The four-day match will also feature veteran Kurtis Patterson, who has made a remarkable resurgence in the last 12 months and holds an incredible Test average of 144, albeit after only two outings against Sri Lanka in 2019.

The trio are firmly in the selection mix while South Australian Nathan McSweeney will be hoping to repeat the opening to his last season that earned him a debut in last summer’s Border-Gavaskar opener against India in Perth.