Playing in his first Boxing Day Test will be an incredible experience for Peter Handscomb, writes Chris Rogers

FOR Peter Handscomb, the Boxing Day Test will be even more special as he realises a lifelong dream and gets to see just how amazing a packed MCG is, writes Chris Rogers.

Peter Handscomb. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

When Pete Handscomb was last dismissed in an innings on the MCG, for 60, and was trudging the lonely walk down the race to the change room, would he have dreamt his next time taking guard there would be in the Australian green and gold?

It’s hard to imagine he would but with everything that has changed in recent weeks Handscomb returns to Australia’s grandest of cricket stadiums as one of the leading batsmen.

His performances since selection in the Adelaide Test have been more than impressive but it’s his maturity, which has shone like a beacon for supporters, that has set him apart.

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How he handles the next few weeks will say a lot more about him.

Every Test match represented for Australia is one to cherish but the fortnight over Christmas and New Year are like no other. For two glorious weeks in Melbourne and Sydney the crowds flock and the cities froth with excitement … it’s that time of year.

Peter Handscomb celebrates his maiden Test century. Picture: AAP

As a player it’s either met with enthusiastic zeal or constricting fear but what is for sure, the nerves don’t disappear. The Adelaide Test is hard to beat these days but experiencing the history of the MCG and SCG and walking in the footsteps of greats in front of huge crowds is different altogether.

For Handscomb, a Victorian, it will be even more special as he realises a lifelong dream and gets to see just how special a Boxing Day Test is.

At every Test match, anywhere in the world — bar just one — the Australian team managers get to the rooms earlier than the players and put up two or three A3 photos of each player taken in a moment of joy or action. The pictures are often in the eyeline of where that player is to sit. It’s a little touch that can inspire.

The exception to the rule is the MCG. Here they go big.

On Handscomb’s first venture into the ‘G as a Test batsman he would have seen not A3 sized photos, but two life-size cardboard images of himself slid into railings on the wall in the largest dressing room in world cricket. He’ll sit there for a moment looking up at these and realise just how happy he is. If he has any sense he’ll ask for them after the game.

Then the nets will be fierce and competitive and hundreds of punters will be three or four deep standing almost above him on the concourse watching. If he’s lucky his ex-Victorian coach Greg Shipperd will mill anonymously among them and give some positive feedback to make him feel a little more at ease.

On Boxing Day morning he will have seen the crowd rushing in to find the best vantage points and the nerves will be building.

After changing in the rooms into his whites he will take the walk up the race and maybe feel like the AFL star he may have dreamt of as a youngster. Gradually the top of the Great Southern Stand will appear and with every step the ground will emerge and for the first time in a morning at the MCG as a Test player, he’ll see a huge crowd there, almost baying with anticipation.

Peter Handscomb is ready for his first Test at the MCG Picture: Wayne Ludbey.

The anthem will be sung with vigour as he grabs on to his teammates either side of him, almost to ease the nervous tension and then either run out on to the ground to take his position in the gully or head back downstairs to throw some batting gear on, perhaps wondering will it be his day or will he make a goose of himself in front of maybe 80,000 people at the ground and no doubt millions watching on screens all over the world.

The next four or five days will pass in a blur and he’ll be a spent force dealing with not only the cricket, but the expectation of being the first home grown Victorian batsman to represent Australia since Bob Quiney, Cam White and Brad Hodge and all the outside distractions that come with it. He’ll be polite and giving with his time and energy but all he’ll want is to block these distractions out and do well in another great win for Australia.

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For any aspiring Victorian sportsperson, the AFL finals are almost the barometer of a sporting pinnacle. For Handscomb, this is his finals footy. He has a long career ahead but not much compares to a first Boxing Day Test.

Let’s hope that maturity he has shown in spades is right there with him this week because what better chant at the MCG is there than “We love you because you’re a Victorian”?

CHRIS ROGERS played 24 of his 25 Test matches after joining Victoria from Western Australia. His five centuries included 116 against England in the 2013 Boxing Day Test.

Originally published as Playing in his first Boxing Day Test will be an incredible experience for Peter Handscomb, writes Chris Rogers