Peter Handscomb has been an absolute revelation for Australia ever since he made his Test debut against South Africa at Adelaide, in November last year. Handscomb was touted among the young and talented individuals by the Aussie think-tank and drafted straight into the squad. His selection into the squad came after the Aussies were humiliated in their own backyard by South Africa, as they lost the Test series 2-1.
Since then, the right-hander, who has been a like for like replacement of Adam Voges, has yielded terrific results. In just the matter of 4 Tests, the 25-year-old already has a couple of centuries, with a batting average of 99.75. Now, in order to further enhance his career, Handscomb has made a rather tough choice, by forgoing an IPL contract. Instead, he will turn up for Yorkshire in the county circuit.
“I obviously had a good time with Pune last year and it was very nice of them to release me this year and allow me to go to Yorkshire,” Handscomb. “And that was it, I wanted to get over there and play Division One county cricket for a full season and get used to what happens in England and try and figure out a way of playing over there. “You go to the tough places and play the best players in the world in either spin bowling or seam bowling and it’s a great challenge.”
Expressing his desire to Test his game in tough conditions, he added, “You want to do it. “You want to get over there and test yourself in the hardest conditions and if you come away from it relatively well then you can hold your head up high, and know you can compete with the best in the world. “I see myself as a longer format player, so sitting on the sidelines in the IPL for me wasn’t going to be great practice.”
The batsman added that he was excited to bat in the top 4. “I like batting in the top four,” Handscomb said. “I want to try and bat in the top four (in Test cricket) and to be able to keep and bat in the top four, I think, is an extraordinarily hard job. “I know Kumar Sangakkara tried to do it and couldn’t do it, so if he can’t I dare say I probably can’t either. “I just want to be a batsman, and then keeping is something that’s been there that can get me a game.”