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'Old boy' Langer's take on newbie Bancroft

Western Australia coach and Australia's new Test opener reflect on early meetings between the pair

Justin Langer was officially an 'old boy' when he first happened upon a teenage Cameron Bancroft, who the Australia Test great quickly judged to be the best young talent he had seen around the Perth cricket ranks "for quite some time".

Even if Langer has been known to enjoy some parochial hyperbole with the same passion he held for his Baggy Green Cap, it’s no small shout of affirmation for Australia's newest Test player given the other talents that have flowed through WA in Langer's time.

Batters the calibre of Langer's contemporary Damien Martyn, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Chris Rogers, Marcus North, Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges have all navigated a path from Perth's junior competitions to the Test arena, but there was something about Bancroft that set him apart in Langer’s nuanced view.

"I saw these dancing feet and something you look for in the best batsmen is they've got feet that dance," Langer recalled today as Bancroft’s photograph was unveiled at the WACA Ground’s 'Test Walk' that honours the state’s international representatives.

Image Id: 87A8D900451446E5A6D60212D17625FC Image Caption: Bancroft was celebrated at the WACA on Monday // Getty

"He was able to play off the front and back foot. So originally I knew nothing about him as a person, I just knew that he had this really interesting talent, and that was the attraction initially."

Not surprisingly, for an aspiring adolescent cricketer finding himself pitted against one of the nation’s most decorated Test players, Bancroft carries a clear recollection of that day when the pair crossed paths a decade ago, as Langer's Australia career was nearing autumn.

And that of the 16-year-old schoolboy, who was yet to taste the competitive heat of first-grade cricket, had barely begun to bloom.

It was a match at Aquinas College, one of Perth’s most renowned private schools set on the banks of the Canning River, where Bancroft was a scholar following in the footsteps of other esteemed cricket alumni including Terry Alderman, Brad Hogg, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Langer.

The Aquinas first XI had drawn a bye in the annual Darlot Cup competition fought out between seven of the city's foremost private schools and, in keeping with tradition and to ensure their skills remained sharp, the schoolboys played a 'scratch match' against a team of Aquinas Old Boys.

Image Id: 217AE4BF6DD94C438D6B178034F34443 Image Caption: A young Bancroft at the Under-19 World Cup in 2012 // Getty

An outfit that included Langer, who had called time on his 105-Test tenure but was still a year or more away from his final first-class outing, as well as Langer's younger brother, Jonathon.

"I remember it being a big awe moment for me,” Bancroft recalled today.

"It was a memory I remember quite fondly.

"I remember big Simon Mackin (current member of WA’s Sheffield Shield squad) hitting him (Langer) in the ribs and saying "you should be used to that". 

"It was quite funny but I was a bit more stand off-ish than that."

On further reflection, Bancroft was not sure if that exchange with Mackin had taken place during the Aquinas match or in later years in Perth's famously combative grade competition, to which the current Australia opener graduated in the summer of 2010-11.

Bancroft crowns brilliant debut with winning runs

The summer in which he scored a gritty "60 off 190 balls" for his grade club Willetton as they came within 10 runs of Subiaco-Floreat’s 6-393 in the grand final, against a bowling attack spearheaded by future national representatives Coulter-Nile and Jason Behrendorff.

"At the time, I was learning my game," Bancroft said today when asked if those 'dancing feet' that Langer had noticed were inspired by one of his boyhood heroes.

"I’ve certainly been through phases where I wanted to bat like this person or that person, but the more your game evolves and you find yourself a little bit, the more you're comfortable with your method.

"If it works it feels even better.

"For me now that's the journey I've come to be in the place now."

And that’s what Langer, now Bancroft’s proud coach with the WA Alcohol. Think Again Warriors and the Perth Scorchers in the KFC Big Bash League, is delighted to see his 25-year-old charge and fellow Aquinas alumni on achieving.

"The most important thing for Bangers (Bancroft) now is he feels comfortable in his own skin," Langer said of the right-hander, who will play his first home Test when the third Magellan Ashes contest begins at the WACA on Thursday.

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"He's not trying to prove to be anyone else, he knows his game, he's worked hard at it, he's trusted his game now and he's actually comfortable being Cameron Bancroft.

"That's one of the most important traits you can have if you're going to be successful in international cricket.

"He doesn't have to be David Warner or Matt Renshaw or Shaun Marsh, Gordon Greenidge or Desmond Haynes, he's got to be Cameron Bancroft.

"He'll find a great career if he keeps doing that."

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Tickets

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21