2024-03-21 18:31:49
New Delhi: After the car accident of Gujarat Titans’ young players Robin Minz and Lahiru Thirimane, another cricketer has become a victim of an accident. Western Australia’s opening batsman Cameron Bancroft has become a victim of a bike accident. He has suffered a serious injury in this accident, due to which he will not be able to play in the Marsh Sheffield Shield final starting against Tasmania at the WACA ground in Perth from Thursday. This accident happened with Bancroft while riding a bike.
Bancroft’s exit is a major blow to Western Australia’s hat-trick of Shield titles. As the top-scoring batsman in the competition over the past five seasons, with 3,061 runs at an average of 42.51, Bancroft finished the 2023–24 season as the Shield’s second-highest run-scorer. With 778 runs at an average of 48.62, he finished behind Tasmania’s Beau Webster.
The right-handed batsman played a key role in taking the two-time champions to the decider by scoring 58 runs in the second innings against Victoria on the bowler-friendly Oval surface, where only two other batsmen reached 50 in the match. Bancroft’s opening partnership with captain Sam Whiteman was a major factor in State reaching their third consecutive final.
The pair have emerged as the only opening batsmen in the top 10 run-scorers of the season. Additionally, Bancroft and Whiteman recently surpassed Geoff Marsh and Mike Veletta’s record of 3,470 runs in a partnership for Western Australia, having scored a total of 3,567 runs together. As well as Bancroft, uncapped all-rounder Keaton Critchell was also left out of WA’s final squad as star all-rounder Aaron Hardie has recovered from a minor calf strain and has been cleared to return to bowling.