Top End to 'get around' Bancroft in return

Cameron Bancroft is expected to receive a warm welcome in Australia's far north this weekend when he becomes the final member of the banned ball-tampering trio to return to the playing field.

Following the comebacks of Steve Smith and David Warner in far flung Toronto over the past two days in the Global T20 Canada competition, Bancroft will feature in the opening weekend of the Northern Territory Strike League in Darwin on Sunday.

The Western Australian will play back-to-back T20s for the Desert Blaze at Marrara's sporting complex before spending the next four weekends playing limited-overs games in the country's smallest capital city.

Warner is set to join his Test opening partner in Darwin when he begins a two-game stint with the City Cyclones on July 21 and will face-off against Bancroft the following day.

The Cyclones v Blaze match, a 50-over game, will mark a return to the same ground where Warner was struck on the side of the neck by a Josh Hazlewood bouncer in an Australian Test intra-squad match last year.

Bancroft is serving a nine-month suspension from all international and Australian domestic cricket, while Warner and Smith have both been banned for 12 months. Cricket Australia's sanctions don't preclude the trio from playing in overseas domestic tournaments or in Australian club cricket.

Bancroft was set to fly from Perth on Saturday, having paid his own way for the trip, and could open the batting alongside fellow marquee player Alex Ross, the South Australia and Brisbane Heat batsman.

"We're excited to just have an opportunity to see him, see how he goes about it his cricket, how he prepares and what his plans and tactics are in the T20 format," Desert Blaze coach Karl Mayne told cricket.com.au.

"We'll also have some one-day cricket so we'll get to see that in the slightly longer format too. We've got a young talented group and they'll just be looking forward to learning as much as they can." 

Darwin, which holds its cricket season in the southern states' winter months due to its tropical climate, is growing as a cricket destination and last year hosted Australia's Test squad ahead of their tour of Bangladesh.

Australia one-day international squad members D'Arcy Short and Kane Richardson both grew up in Darwin, as did South Australia and Adelaide Strikers star Jake Weatherald.

While Bancroft and Warner will be the main attractions, the Strike League's second season will also feature a host of leading domestic cricketers including Ross, Jake Doran, Jake Lehmann, Jake Reed and Will Bosisto.

Reed, the Hobart Hurricanes speedster best known for slipping over while attempting to bowl his first ever Big Bash delivery, will play for the Northern Tide as he gets some match practice under his belt after missing the entire 2017-18 summer due to a shoulder reconstruction.

The right-armer, one of the country’s fastest bowlers when fully fit, says he's looking forward to taking on Bancroft and Warner after the events of Cape Town.

"It would have been a tough time for the guys," Reed told cricket.com.au. "To see them get an opportunity to play some cricket is great, no doubt they've missed it over the last couple of months.

"Anywhere a bloke goes who's got a Baggy Green, the crowds will roll in. They'll be pretty excited to see players like Bancroft and David Warner, especially up here. 

"Bancroft is a really good player, he's done well in state cricket for a really long time. To have him up here and have him playing against us is going to be great. 

"Hopefully he doesn’t get on the end of too many of mine. It'll be great to get around him and I'm sure the blokes will be getting around him afterwards.

"The contest will be good, but the best part of it will be for the young kids up here, the 16- to 18-year-olds that are looking to further their cricket."

Mayne concurred, adding: "Warner is one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket. 

"The opportunity to share a field with a player of that calibre won't come along that often for players mostly local club cricket. It's just a fantastic opportunity."

Entry to all games is free, with the first round of T20s to begin on Marrara's side-by-side grounds at 10am on Sunday.