Stuck in cricket purgatory, Cameron Bancroft offers a refreshing measure of honesty in sport
Related Story: Bancroft rides wave of emotion in wake of ball-tampering scandal
Cameron Bancroft has spent the last couple of months pondering his existence, and going by what he said on Saturday before flying to Darwin to resume his cricket career, the time off has given him some perspective and a new level of self-awareness.
In an era of athletes and sporting organisations hiding behind corporate speak and pre-prepared media statements, it was refreshing to hear someone acknowledge their mistake and speak openly and honestly about the process in overcoming it.
It was a lesson for not only other athletes, but anyone in any occupation.
But it has taken Bancroft a while to come to terms with the magnitude of what happened in Cape Town in March and the days that followed.
"It can be really challenging to deal with, really challenging to digest the different opinions that fly around," he said.
"It was a lot opinion, a lot of people saying things.
"I think for me it was about, in that situation it was it was about my mistake and it was about the poor decision that I made.
"What anyone else thought or said didn't change the fact I made a really bad decision."
The road to forgiveness
Whatever the reason behind Bancroft taking sandpaper on to the field in a Test match to change the state of the ball, early indications are the 25-year-old has learned from it.
And the good news for him is the Australian sporting public is generally pretty forgiving.
Athletes who have performed far worse actions than tampering with a cricket ball have been welcomed back into the fold.
Bancroft has made a mistake, owned it, shown remorse and is adamant it won't happen again, which appears to be a sound model for anyone trying to regain the trust of supporters and repair their reputation.
He deserves some credit for the way he has handled himself.
A lot of the time pride, ego or taking the emotional risk to admit to yourself that you have made a mistake get in the way of moving past it.
Yoga, Spanish and charity help fill the void
Filling the void left by cricket has been Bancroft's other big challenge.
He has dedicated his time off to self-development, including yoga, Spanish lessons and helping some charity groups.
This may or may not have been prescribed by the WACA or Cricket Australia, but you get a genuine sense Bancroft is doing his best to make good from a bad situation.
"As hard as it is to connect learning Spanish and playing cricket for Australia again, they are all little stepping stones to me achieving that dream again," he said.
"There have been times I have felt really sad, felt really angry but I have worked really hard on myself."
The opener, who is renowned for his elite work ethic and preparation to achieve results on the field, is now ticking all the right boxes to get back to doing what he loves.
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