In-form Ashes hopeful Cameron Bancroft set to pounce on Matt Renshaw’s poor run of outs

A FAULTLESS ton has “the best defensive player in the country”, Cameron Bancroft, in prime contention to steal Matt Renshaw’s Ashes opening spot.

CAMERON Bancroft is storming into prime contention to steal Matt Renshaw’s opening spot for the first Ashes Test at the Gabba.

If selectors are serious about rewarding form, Bancroft has made himself almost impossible to leave out of the starting XI after a stunning 161 not out for Western Australia at the WACA.

Bancroft is versatile and selectors could potentially inject him at No.6 or as a wicketkeeper if they desired, but it’s as an opener that he’s best suited, and his run of brilliant performances coincides with the quicksand that seems to be engulfing Renshaw.

Cameron Bancroft salutes after his half century.

On a day of huge developments, Matthew Wade’s hopes of retaining his place as Test keeper officially ended following another failure for Tasmania, while Hilton Cartwright and Glenn Maxwell also missed their chances.

Selector Mark Waugh said that Renshaw “had a good chance” of playing at the Gabba based on the mettle he’s shown in his 10 Test matches to date, but the rumblings around the left-hander’s technical issues are growing ever louder after another meek dismissal for Queensland.

Initial suggestions that Renshaw was under pressure seemed baseless and harsh given the distinct lack of alternatives to replace him as David Warner’s partner, but in Bancroft another young and legitimate option has emerged and his timing is impeccable.

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Bancroft has been on the radar for selectors ever-since he was picked for an ultimately cancelled tour of Bangladesh in 2015 and the only thing that’s robbed him of a debut since then is that he hasn’t scored runs at times when teams are being picked.

That’s all changed now, and while Renshaw has made just 69 runs from five innings this Shield season, Bancroft has stood up when it’s mattered with a match-winning knock in the one-day cup final, scores of 76 not out and 86 against an all-Australian NSW attack and the icing on the cake, Monday’s magnificent century against South Australia – the 11th of his first-class career.

“He played really well (against Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins last week). Those are the sort of performances you want to see on a consistent basis from players at State level,” said Waugh at the launch of Triple M’s bumper Ashes coverage.

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“We’ve seen periods where batters have batted well but then haven’t quite nailed it with a lot of big scores, but Cameron’s two innings were really good against a Test bowling attack.

“That’s the sort of performance as far as me being a selector … definitely puts you high in the order for selectors.”

Waugh will fly to Brisbane on Wednesday to convene in a room with fellow selectors Trevor Hohns, Darren Lehmann and Greg Chappell, where the first Test squad will be decided by that night.

The former Test great said he’d have no qualms about throwing a debutant – like Bancroft for example – into the furnace of an Ashes.

“I don’t see why not. I was a debutant (in an Ashes series),” he said.

Fellow Triple M analyst Kerry O’Keeffe yesterday described Bancroft as “the best defensive player in the country.”

Curiously, Australian captain Steve Smith fielded at first slip for NSW, the spot in the cordon that’s been filled by Renshaw in Test matches.

However, all that said, it would still be an enormous call to drop Renshaw and one that could not be taken lightly - Usman Khawaja (78 not out for Queensland) arguing that the 20-year-old was unlucky to be given out caught behind against NSW and that by soaking up balls he was doing a more than fair job.

Matthew Renshaw’s Ashes hopes hang by a thread.

Renshaw was thrown into the deep end last summer when Australian cricket was burning, and showed time and again on home soil and in India that he possessed the DNA of a fighting Test cricketer – a fact not lost on Waugh.

“It would have been nice to see him score a few more runs in the season so far. (But) his record for Australia is very good, his average is about 37 and he’s batted in some tough conditions in India and played well and played well last summer,” said Waugh.

“We know what he can do. He’s obviously got a good chance of playing … I don’t think there’s any cricketer who hasn’t been under pressure at some stage.

“If you’re a batsman and you don’t score runs then people are going to talk about it.

“You’re going to go through these low periods, so Matt has just got to handle that and I’m sure he’s good enough to do the job.”

Originally published as In-form Ashes hopeful Cameron Bancroft set to pounce on Matt Renshaw’s poor run of outs