Cameron Bancroft, the Australia batsman currently serving nine-month ban of his role in the ball-tampering controversy, has been signed to a full-season contract with Durham. The deal will see Bancroft play all three formats as the English county side’s overseas player, but not until his ban runs to it conclusion in late December. "I am excited to join Durham for the 2019 county season. 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," said Bancroft in a statement. "I am grateful for the opportunity and I can't wait to get over and make an impact with Durham." Bancroft will replace New Zealand batsman Tom Latham in Durham’s setup. The 25-year-old West Australian cricketer was banned by Cricket Australia for nine months following the Newlands Test in March, a sanction which means he cannot play state cricket or in the Big Bash League until the end of the year. While Steve Smith and David Warner have been permitted to play T20 cricket in Canada and the Caribbean while they serve 12-year suspensions, Bancroft has since March only played in he Northern Territory Strike League. He had signed with Somerset but that deal was cancelled after the Newlands scandal. Commenting on the signing of the Australian Test opener, Durham 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. 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."
