Maybe it was the bushy beard and singlet he sported during his bizarre ball tampering interview on Boxing Day, or perhaps Channel 7 believed he’s used his time away from the sport to return to his true love — but either way the TV network was under the impression Cameron Bancroft was returning to something other than cricket this month.
His second game back after serving his nine-month suspension for using sandpaper on the ball in Cape Town didn’t have a happy ending as the Perth Scorchers went down by one run to the Sydney Thunder in last night’s Big Bash League (BBL) clash but viewers at home had plenty to laugh about.
As the West Australian came to the crease at first drop with the Scorchers 1/18 in pursuit of the Thunder’s 6/142, Channel 7 thought it would help get Aussie fans re-acquainted with the man who’s been in cricket limbo since late March.
A graphic popped up on the screen with some interesting facts about the 26-year-old including his run-scoring feats at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup, his ability to speak Spanish and his appreciation of Tiger Woods.
Of course there was his new-found love of yoga — which might explain the beard and singlet in that interview that was widely panned by the cricket community — but it was the final dot point that stole the show.
According to fans on social media, the fun fact claimed Bancroft “recently returned to band ‘Tame Impala’ as the Kazoo player”.
Swing and a miss.
No, Bancroft didn’t return to the Australian rock group — on the kazoo or any other instrument, unfortunately. How could he return to a band he was never part of?
It didn’t take long for an Australian icon to solve the mystery of where Channel 7 got this information from. Satirical website The Betoota Advocate took to Instagram after the blunder to point out it was the first to “break” the news of Bancroft’s completely fictional affinity with the kazoo and Tame Impala.
The Betoota Advocate was referring to a story it produced this year claiming Bancroft had rejoined the group after leaving in 2011 to “focus on his budding cricket career”, which saw Tame Impala lose “the most talented kazoo player to emerge from Western Australia in recent memory”.
If only it were true.
It’s not the first time a media organisation has fallen for one of Betoota’s brilliant but unbelievable tales. In 2014 The Today Show on Channel 9 reported a story that claimed a parking inspector had fined himself, then tried to appeal against his own decision.
The cracks in Channel 7’s fact-checking weren’t the only holes in the Big Bash this week as commentator Michael Slater suffered an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction in Sydney.
The former Test opener’s pants parted in a delicate place and colleague Greg Blewett was only too happy to point the mishap out on Twitter.
As for the actual cricket, Bancroft’s return has taught his BBL captain Ashton Turner to be more grateful for his cricket.
Turner was notably gutted after the loss to the Thunder, finishing 60 not out on a low and slow Spotless Stadium wicket and helping to take 18 runs off the last over to fall just one short.
But he said thinking of Bancroft’s plight had made him more appreciative of the sport.
“It’s funny. It’s quite humbling when you talk and answer a lot of questions about the game and get really involved in that,” Turner said. “And then talk about someone like Cam who for nine months has had this game taken away from him.
“As bitter as I feel at the moment and disappointed (about the result), we’re really lucky to be out here at the moment and playing in front of full crowds and on TV.
“It’s a great opportunity and a game we love playing.”
Bancroft was warmly received at Spotless Stadium, just as he was when he played his comeback game against Hobart in Launceston earlier this week. Turner said he’d remained in good spirits in the lead up this return., which came just days after his controversial Fox Sports interview was aired.
“He came away for our first couple of games on tour just to help out around the group,” Turner said.
“I have never seen him so bubbly around the group. He’d come to training and just throw balls at batters, hit high balls at training.
“As a friend I’m really proud of the journey he has been on over the past nine months.
“He has changed a lot as a person and he’s discovered some things outside of cricket which he probably wouldn’t have got the chance to do had the incident in South Africa not happened.”
Bancroft averaged 48.50 in five games last summer for the Scorchers, and also looked good on Wednesday before being dismissed.
His innings including a big six over long on from spinner Chris Green, a sign of what the Scorchers hope is to come given they’ve now dropped four of their opening five games to sit seventh.
“He’s such a good player, he’s going to ease his way back into this tournament and have a really big impact for us,” Turner said.
“We’ve proven to ourselves that finishing the top of the table isn’t always the best way to go.
“The job for us now is to swing around a little bit of momentum and find a way to get into that top four.”
With AAP
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