Axed Test batsman Peter Handscomb gives selectors timely reminder with impressive ton

WITH Australia’s batting stocks looking dangerously bare, axed batsman Peter Handscomb has delivered a perfect response to selectors and critics.

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IF scores over 30 really were the new metric for national selection then Victorian captain Peter Handscomb’s chances of a Test recall should be soaring.

Overlooked for the Test series in the United Arab Emirates, Handscomb resolved to stay positive, focus on what he does well, and set about rebuilding an international career that stalled as Australian cricket did.

But his classy century at the MCG on Sunday, as Australia’s one-day batsmen flopped in Perth, was a seventh score over 30 in his past eight innings as he has coolly returned his name well and truly to the Test conversation.

Peter Handscomb en route to a timely century for Victoria. Picture: AAP

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And despite the noise around scores over 30, hundreds are the real currency.

Rumblings are Handscomb’s 559 runs at 62 this home season, including four straight half-centuries in Victoria’s domestic one-day competition win, have elevated him above the rest of the would-be Test selections too.

Handscomb has looked untroubled in most of his innings for the Vics in both the one-day games and three Sheffield Shield matches, unconcerned about his technique critics.

Deemed good enough to play Test cricket in a team that included Australia’s best batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner, Handscomb is making a strong case that without the banned duo, he’s a necessary inclusion.

It could be that he takes the spot of Marnus Labuschange, the Test bolter who bowled better in the UAE than he batted. The Queenslander has scores of 3, 28 and 11 in his three Shield innings since returning.

With Usman Khawaja’s knee injury progressing well, and Mitch Marsh making his own century for Western Australia on Monday, it could be the available Test spots for the Indian series are down to two.

In the firing line? Marnus Labuschagne failed to impress with the bat against Pakistan. Picture: Getty

Handscomb, who has two Test centuries, has enough supporters, and it would seem enough runs now, to fill one of them for the first Test in Adelaide next month.

“It’s a bit of a mindset thing, going back to believing my technique is good enough,” Handscomb said.

“I had this technique for three or four years before playing for Australia, then I made runs with this technique as soon as I played for Australia. Then I tinkered with it, and more form started to drop.

“I’ve gone back to doing what I do really well, backing in my strengths. I’m feeling really good. I feel comfortable and good with my game.”

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