Ricky Ponting & Michael Slater Slam Cameron Bancroft For Interview

Australian legends Ricky Ponting and Michael Slater have taken swipes at Cameron Bancroft after an explosive Boxing Day interview.

Ponting accused the banned opener of trying to repair his image amid renewed debate about whether David Warner should be selected in the national side.

Bancroft revisited the Cape Town ball tampering scandal in an interview broadcast during Fox Sports’ Boxing Day coverage, suggesting he “didn’t know any better” when asked by Warner to interfere with the ball at Newlands.

Ponting said he was stunned by the timing of Bancroft’s interview, which threatened to overshadow the biggest day on Australia’s cricketing calendar.

“I was disappointed with a few things and I don’t think he had to say some of the things he had to say,” Ponting said on the Seven Network.

“Even the way he presented himself in that interview … he’s trying to rebuild his brand and that sort of thing, and I think some of the things he’s had to say have actually done more damage to his brand than what had happened before.”

While Warner’s ‘instigator’ role was already public knowledge — Cricket Australia confirmed that when it released its official findings and consequent bans for Warner, Bancroft and skipper Steve Smith in March — Bancroft’s honesty in such detail stunned the cricket world.

All three are likely to be in Australia’s plans for next year’s Ashes but it remains to be seen if the past can be left behind, with former opener Michael Slater suggesting the relationship between Warner and Bancroft is untenable.

Slater, who played 74 Tests for the Aussies across nearly a decade, said he was disappointed Bancroft chose to speak honestly nine months after the incident.

“I think it (Bancroft and Warner’s relationship) untenable,” Slater told Channel 7 on Thursday.

“There is a strategy behind Steve Smith and Bancroft and Dave Warner’s off the radar at the moment. They’re all running some strategy to try and regain respect from the public and from their players. But in those comments he’s buried Dave Warner.

“They had the chance way back when it happened to tell the truth about the situation. There’s no use now coming back and saying something different that was said then. They all collectively said as that little group that ‘we’re all involved’ and now they’re saying something very different.

“I don’t want to hear it. I know there’s an element of the public that now like to get to the bottom of it, but in terms of a respectful comment on Dave Warner, there’s been none of that.”

An eight-Test rookie when he was suspended, Bancroft was still to establish himself as a permanent fixture in the Australian side and the promising emergence of Marcus Harris will almost certainly ensure that Bancroft has to earn his weigh back through weight of runs.

If Warner comes back into the side and, as Slater hypothesises, his relationship with Bancroft is “untenable” it could be his own place in the side that his comments cost.

Regardless of the make-up of the Australian side once the three banned players are available for selection, legendary former skipper Ricky Ponting was equally scathing about the Bancroft interview.