Cameron Bancroft has insisted that he is relaxed about his return to the Australia squad ahead of the Ashes this summer.

The 26-year-old Durham captain earned a call-up for the 25-man squad for the warm-up match between Australia and Australia A at Southampton which starts on Tuesday, which will help decide the final team that takes on England in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston on August 1.

Bancroft has returned to the Australian fold for the first time since the ball-tampering incident against South Africa in 2018, which resulted in a nine-month ban from the game.

However, he has proven his quality with the bat for Durham in the 2019 campaign in the Specsavers County Championship, scoring 726 runs at an average of 45.37, including two hundreds.

The opener has admitted that he was delighted with the opportunity after being recalled to the squad, but is not taking anything for granted ahead of the contest that will decide his fate.

"I play cricket because I love the game because you want to able to represent your country,” he said.

“So it's good to be there, and I'll have to enjoy it and do my best to see where I end up. I have to enjoy the week, it is what it is. Hopefully I can perform well out in the middle and we'll have to see what happens come the end of the game."

A successful display in the warm-up match could result in Bancroft's departure from Durham for the rest of the season given the hectic Ashes schedule.

The club endured a difficult start to the season, but have found their form over the past month, winning four of their last six championship games, including their 109-run triumph over Worcestershire.

Bancroft has missed Durham's opening two games in the Vitality Blast, and will be absent for at least another, and although he is unsure what his future holds beyond that point, the skipper is pleased to have left the county in a strong footing in Division Two. Durham are six Championship games without defeat and sit fourth in Division Two, with the top three earning promotion.

"We'll have to see what happens from that point of view", he added.

"It has been nice and a good experience to learn from what where difficult times in the year. We didn't have it quite right at the start of the season. The margins of defeat weren't quite as detrimental as we thought.

“We didn't perform well in big moments, but now we're starting to perform and having the opportunities to win matches.

"We're all feeling really good, winning is much better than losing. It's nice to be able to put good performances on the board and win games that creates a much better feeling in the group.

“To be where we are now in a good position. I'm very proud of the group and hopefully we can keep pushing forward towards promotion."