Australian Cameron Bancroft is making all the right noises on his ODI return after scoring a second consecutive century for Durham in their six-wicket win against Leicestershire.

Bancroft smashed an unbeaten 118 from 117 balls at No.4 with 12 boundaries and two sixes to help Durham win with more than four overs to spare. Durham were set a target of 234 by Leicestershire.

“Signing him, there was a lot of speculation,” teammate James Franklin said of Bancroft.

“But I think he’s certainly put that to rest with his two performances. He’s been a leader of this team coming out, two match-winning hundreds.

“That’s what you want from your captain, to lead from the front, and he’s certainly done that the first two games.”

Bancroft’s appointment as captain caused a lot of criticism for Durham, but chief executive Tim Bostock insisted Bancroft was “the best available option” and his performances so far have justified the faith.

The Australian now has 269 runs in his first two innings’ of English competition, the most by any batsman since 1990. He overtook Ravi Shastri who had 202 runs to his name.

Bancroft had been banned for nine months for his role in the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018, with teammates Steve Smith and David Warner receiving 12-month suspensions. All three have served their sentences and are back in action.

Bancroft returned to action in December in the BBL with the Perth Scorchers and then with Western Australia in the JLT Sheffield Shield.

Bancroft scored 298 runs at an average of 33.11, with two fifties in the BBL, before adding another 392 runs with an average of 56 in four Shield matches.

The 26-year-old has an average of 30.92 from eight Tests at the top of the order, with a best score of 82 not out.

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