Analysis: What McSweeney rise means for future of Cam Bancroft and Marcus Harris

A Test recall was in reach for both Cam Bancroft and Marcus Harris, yet neither were able to seize the day, and they will likely never get such a golden chance again, writes Daniel Cherny.

Like a toy being tugged away from the fingertips of a toddler, a Test recall was within touching distance for Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft, and yet neither could wrap their arms around the coveted coat-of-arms-emblazoned helmet.

A door seemingly closed at the start of the year when Matt Renshaw had been preferred to both of the long-ago WA teammates sprung wide open by the twin outcomes of Steve Smith’s preference to move back to No. 4 and Cameron Green’s back surgery.

They had fended off the struggling Renshaw - who had fallen so far back to be omitted altogether from the Australia A squad - and had a Sheffield Shield round and two A matches to make hay and earn the chance to play a Test in their home town, and the opportunity to post an elusive Test ton.

Nathan McSweeney will get the first crack at the vacant opening slot. Picture: William West/AFP

The upstart Sam Konstas didn’t fire a serious shot until it was too late. But still it wasn’t to be for Harris and Bancroft, both of whom will be 32 by the time the first Test begins.

For Bancroft, the prolific run-scoring feats of recent Shield seasons eluded him completely just when the iron was hot. His scores this Spring have looked more like an Uno hand than the output of a Test challenger. That his Sydney Thunder captain and Cape Town collaborator David Warner volunteered details of Bancroft’s technical shortcomings made for a particularly inglorious backdrop.

There is a Mandela Effect to Bancroft’s career, with sections of the public believing he never returned to the Test side following the Newlands affair, conveniently forgetting that he played the first two Tests of the 2019 Ashes series, batting with Warner before being dropped for Harris. None of the trio succeeded in a series dominated by Steve Smith.

If it was going to happen for Bancroft, it probably had to be at the start of the year, when the panel split hairs by preferring Renshaw’s record across first-class cricket as well as his versatility.

Cameron Bancroft could not force himself in despite his staggering Sheffield Shield numbers. Picture: William West/AFP

Harris didn’t exactly flunk his audition of a match against a stacked NSW side and the A series, but neither did he shoot the lights out. It was an awfully familiar tale for the lefty: starts that didn’t become 50s and a 74 at the ‘G that could have been a ton, ended by a shot he didn’t need to play.

Through 24 Tests between them from Bancroft’s debut in late 2017 and Harris’ most recent appearance in early 2022, their time in the baggy green proved ships in the night, with one sometimes replacing the other but the pair never opening together.

In a cruel way it was fitting that hours before selectors finalised their squad for the first Test, Harris and Bancroft fell in consecutive balls for golden ducks at the MCG. That left Nathan McSweeney - the man ultimately picked to partner Usman Khawaja in Perth - and Sam Konstas, the kid half Khawaja’s age and broadly earmarked to replace him down the track, in the middle.

Marcus Harris also missed out. Picture: William West/AFP

This is not a selection panel that will simply draw a line through players based on age. Khawaja returned to the Test side at 35, ditto Marcus Stoinis when recalled to the one-day outfit at the same age while Scott Boland was 32 when he made his Test debut.

But with McSweeney in, Konstas coming through, Green to return and Josh Inglis seriously in the frame for a middle-order berth, it’s hard to envisage Harris or Bancroft ever having such a golden chance again.

They will meet again this week in domestic cricket while wondering what might have been.

Renshaw meanwhile will be 29 in March and has reached a crossroads, being outperformed by younger Queensland teammates and at risk of quickly fading out of the picture altogether.

Originally published as Analysis: What McSweeney rise means for future of Cam Bancroft and Marcus Harris