Handscomb leads Australia A fightback in India
23 July 2015
Peter Handscomb top-scored with 91 in the first innings of Australia A’s unofficial Test against India A in Chennai.
Batting at number four the Gloucestershire batsman came at 57-2 and batted patiently – facing 182 balls – to help his side reach 268, 31 behind the home side.
The Victorian – who is making his debut for Australia A – is up against an experienced Indian attack that contains spinners Pragyan Ojha (24 Tests), Amit Mishra (13 Tests) and Umesh Yadav (13 Tests).
The match is the first of two four-day games before a triangular one-day tournament with India A and South Africa A.
Peter, 24, left the UK last Friday and will return in August.
Speaking before he jetted out to India, Peter said he was looking forward to testing himself on the subcontinent.
He said: “It’s going to be awesome fun, I absolutely can’t wait to give it a go and see what happens.
“It’s definitely a little bit harder going from England to India than Australia to India. The main issue is how much the ball might spin and finding a way to combat it which I am confident I can do.
“Although the conditions will be very different I guess it will help that I have the challenge of playing against new players on different wickets while I’ve been in England.”
During his time with Gloucestershire Peter scored an impressive 309 runs at an average of 38.6 in his five LV=County Championship matches but found runs harder to come by in the NatWest T20 Blast with 142 runs at 14.2.
Looking back over his first few months at the Bristol County Ground Peter said: “I have absolutely loved it. It’s been a great learning curve. It took me a little bit of time to figure out the red ball but I felt I learned as I went along – trying to get in the front foot more than I would do in Australia
“The T20 format can sometimes be a bit fickle. I think it has been more mental than technical – playing the wrong shot at the wrong time. It would have been nice to go into games more relaxed in how I looked to play.
“Gloucestershire is a great county in terms of the boys in the dressing room and the energy and intensity they bring to the game. I can’t speak more highly of the club and Bristol is a lovely place to live.”
Peter says he has learned huge amounts from his compatriot Michael Klinger who he says would do a great job for Australia if he were to be called upon in this year’s Ashes.
Looking ahead, he said he hopes to pull on the famous “Baggy Green” himself one day but is taking things one step at a time, starting with the current A tour.
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