Cam Bancroft: Corey Rocchiccioli opens up on opener’s push for a Test recall for Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Cam Bancroft’s best mate, teammate Corey Rocchiccioli, has opened up about the opener’s bid to earn a Test recall and how being dropped for Western Australia in 2020 helped shape him as a cricketer.

The veteran West Australian faces the biggest week of his five-year mission to return to the national team in an Australia A clash with India A that could shape the race to open the batting with Usman Khawaja in the crucial Border-Gavaskar Test series.

It is expected the 31-year-old will open the batting in the first match — which begins on Thursday in Mackay — in a side that also includes Test hopefuls Marcus Harris, teen sensation Sam Konstas and captain Nathan McSweeney.

Bancroft has battled in the early rounds of the Sheffield Shield and is yet to reach double figures from four innings.

But teammates are hoping his body of work and a return to form will catapult him back into the mix.

In a moving testimonial for his “big brother”, spinner Rocchiccioli — who will play the second of two matches against India A in Melbourne next month — says Bancroft taught him what it means to play for WA and Australia.

Bancroft was dropped from WA’s red-ball side in 2020, just seven months after he opened the batting in an Ashes series. Rocchiccioli revealed that moment spurred him to become the best batter on the domestic circuit just two years later.

His two-match stint in the Test team in 2019 came straight after his nine-month sandpaper ban was lifted.

“Me and Bangers are best mates, he has been a very big, influential part of my development as a person in the West Australian cricket setup, so to be able to play with him in an Australian representative side is something we are both looking forward to, but me in particular,” Rocchiccioli told The West Australian.

“It’s well noted how hard he works. He is the first one in the last one out. When I first got into the system, he sort of showed me how hard you have to work, and in that period of time, that was sort of the time he sort of missed out the year before and got dropped from the West Australian setup.

“That winter and the COVID era, he really just taught me how much playing for West Australian cricket means and the amount of work you have to put in.

“We are always on the bike together or trying to do some extra running, in the gym, bowling extra balls — I’m bowling to him a fair bit — just things like that he has allowed me to keep recognising it is not a given right to play cricket for your State or your country, and you have got to work your bum off to make sure you get the best opportunity to take what comes.

“I’m super excited to see what he can do over the next couple of weeks. I think his body of work over the last couple of years proves that if you keep knocking down the door, the opportunities come.”

Rocchiccioli, who is considered a strong chance to travel to Sri Lanka for Australia’s Test tour in January, said other than making his own debut, nothing would please him more than seeing Bancroft return to the team.

“As a teammate, as a mate and almost as my big brother, I just want to see him play well, and I want to see him wearing a baggy green,” he said.

“You see how hard people work at their job, day in day out and the sacrifices he has had to make and basically playing cricket year round to get his foot back in the door after his early start to his career.

“Besides me wearing my own baggy green, it would be something that I’d take great satisfaction seeing him with one on his head again.”

Rocchiccioli also joked he was looking forward to “travelling with my bat-pad” on the A tour.

And he said Bancroft is taking the storm over Australia’s search for an opener in his stride — including coverage in The West Australian.

In an exclusive column on Tuesday, former Test coach and legendary opener Justin Langer, said opening was a specialist position and that Bancroft should be the man for the job if he makes runs for Australia A.

“He’s incredibly good at that sort of stuff, and if there’s one thing he has taught me over the last couple of weeks, it’s that you can’t read too much into it,” Rocchiccioli said.

“We had a bit of a laugh. We went out for a cycle on Sunday morning, and, as customary, we stopped halfway, had a couple of coffees, and talked some smack. He sort of opened the paper and the back page was his face and his melon on a couple of the pages so we sort of had a laugh about how ugly he was looking.

“He takes it in his stride, and we have spoken about lately he has earned the right to be able to have the selection criteria and all the articles written about him because he has put his best foot forward to score the runs to be in that conversation again.

“He knows he has had a bloody good couple of years to get himself back with his foot in the door.”

On Tuesday, Test No.3 Marnus Labuschagne described Bancroft as a “seasoned professional” and said players should be judged on a body of work, rather than their start to the summer.

“(I) certainly wouldn’t want to be judging them on one or two innings. You’ve got a lot of sample size there,” he told SEN.