Cameron Bancroft was the subject of interest from several BBL teams after salary cap reasons prompted Perth to let him go. DANIEL CHERNY reports the former Test opener has made a call on his new club.
Cameron Bancroft is poised to again be a teammate of David Warner’s with the West Australian opener electing to continue his Big Bash League career with Sydney Thunder.
Squeezed out of the Perth Scorchers because of a tight salary cap, Bancroft had been the subject of interest from several BBL rivals, in particular the Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes.
However league sources have confirmed that Bancroft has chosen the Thunder as his preferred destination, with an announcement likely in the coming weeks. Bancroft, 30, enjoyed an outstanding BBL season with the Scorchers, making 357 runs to help Perth to a second straight league title.
His decision means he will reunite with former Test teammate Warner, who rejoined the Thunder last season and is contracted to the club for next summer.
The pair have played together at Test level since their infamous involvement in the ball tampering affair of 2018.
WACA chief Christina Matthews confirmed earlier this month on SEN that Bancroft was poised to leave the club.
“It’s highly doubtful he’ll be in orange and it all comes down to the salary cap and existing contracts,” Matthews said.
“Those who are familiar with football know that you contract people over multi years and you plan for people that might be coming in and out.
“At this stage we won’t be able to afford Cameron. We’d love to keep him as we would’ve liked to keep Hilton Cartwright and Marcus Stoinis and others, but you can only fit so many people into your salary cap and Cameron may well be looking at other options at the moment.
“That doesn’t mean he’s not well loved by us all, it’s a matter of numbers really.”