Handscomb ready to take chance following international call-up
10 September 2015
Peter Handscomb says he is will be ready if he gets the chance to make his international debut for Australia against England in the Royal London One-Day series.
The 24-year-old batsman was called into the squad for the first time following injuries to Shane Watson and David Warner.
He said: “It was a big surprise, I wasn’t expecting anything like that but I think it is a little bit about being in the right place at the right time.
“I am confident with how I am playing at the moment so if I do get a chance I will be ready.”
Peter’s call up comes after he made 53 and 39 not out in Gloucestershire’s last LV = County Championship match at Leicestershire – his first game since returning from a successful tour of India with Australia A.
He found out he had made the squad on the morning of Gloucestershire’s Royal London One-Day Cup semi-final against Yorkshire but chose to keep the news from his team mates until after the match.
He said: “I kept it quiet as I just wanted the boys to be able to concentrate fully on what they had to do. I just told Harvs (assistant coach Ian Harvey) and sent a text to my folks and girlfriend.
“When I did tell them they were pretty rapped. They were still up from the semi-final win and getting themselves to Lord’s which is awesome.
“They are a great bunch of lads and I’ve been loving every minute with Gloucestershire.”
Peter currently averages 44.56 in four-day cricket for Glos, having scored 401 runs in his six matches. His selection for the national team follows an impressive domestic season in Australia where he averaged 53 in the Sheffield Shield as Victoria claimed the title and scored a Big Bash League century for Melbourne Stars.
He says the fact that he has already played with a lot of the current Australia squad has helped his integration into the group.
He said: “Half are the squad are Victorian which has definitely made it a lot easier as I have played with them for a few years now. The rest of the guys I have played with or against as well so it has been good fun.
“I’ve only been with the squad a couple of days but it is quite intense. The pace of the international game seems like it goes faster. Not the bowlers so much but the pace of the game. It looks like you don’t have a lot of time - you always have to be ready for the next ball.”
If Peter makes his debut for Australia in either at Headingly on September 11 or Old Trafford on the 13th - he will become the first player to play international cricket while with Gloucestershire since Jon Lewis represented England in 2006.
