Banned Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft to play for Durham in 2019

Banned Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft will play for Durham in 2019, the club announced on August 17.

Bancroft was received a nine-months for his involvement in the infamous ball-tampering scandal against South Africa in March. 

Along with Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner also received one-year suspensions from international and state cricket.

The 25-year-old Bancroft has featured in eight Test matches and opened the batting against England in the Ashes last year.

Bancroft has also featured for Australia at T20 level and is a key member of the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash.

"Durham County Cricket Club are delighted to announce the signing of Cameron Bancroft for 2019," the official statement of the club stated.

Durham County Cricket Club, Head Coach, Jon Lewis, said: "Cameron provides us with a very talented overseas signing who can bulk up our batting line up and help us compete for silverware."

He further added, "Tom Latham has done a great job for us over the past two seasons but we anticipate Tom being unavailable due to the World Cup in 2019, therefore we were delighted to be able to bring Cameron in."

"Cameron is a talented top order batsman and a great talent across all formats, he has the appetite and temperament for scoring big runs."

Cameron, who has an impressive record in first-class cricket with a top score of 228 not out, said, "I am excited to join Durham for the 2019 county season."

He further added, "Having played at Emirates Riverside in 2017 I know what a great place it is to play cricket. With the Ashes and ODI World Cup both being played in the UK in 2019 it will be a huge summer of cricket. I am grateful for the opportunity and I can't wait to get over and make an impact with Durham."