Cameron Bancroft’s return to the crease in professional cricket was a short one as he was dismissed for just 1 for Desert Blaze against Southern Storm in the NT Strike League.

Of the three suspended Australian cricketers, Steve Smith was the only one to return to action in style, scoring a 41-ball 61 for Toronto Nationals against Vancouver Knights in the Global T20 Canada league.

His second outing wasn’t so good, as he was dismissed for 10 against Edmonton Royals, but it was still better than David Warner’s 1 for Winnipeg Hawks against Montreal Tigers in the same tournament, being played for the first time in Canada.

Bancroft opened for the Blaze and, soon after getting off the mark, was caught at the covers off Blade Baxter, the fast bowler.

He ended up on the winning side, though, as the Blaze won the T20 game by seven wickets.

Banned along with Smith and Warner after the ball-tampering scandal in the Cape Town Test in March this year, Bancroft opened up on life after being sanctioned for the first time in the lead up to the match on Saturday, saying, “I’ve worked really hard on myself, been really busy with a lot of things and right now it’s just another step forward, heading up to Darwin to play some cricket and I’m really looking forward to it.”