Handscomb was out of the playing XI midway through the Ashes last year, and though he returned to the side in Johannesburg, after Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner were sent home from their tour of South Africa, he scored 0 and 24 in his two outings.
Handscomb’s unorthodox technique has come under scrutiny, and while he has previously stood by it – “I was doing exactly the same thing last year but I was making runs, so my technique was okay then,” he said during the Ashes – he has now admitted it needed some work.
“I have definitely gone back and looked at my technique and tinkered with a few things,” said Handscomb. “That’s sort of how the game goes a little bit – when you come into it on such a big scale, no one really knew how I batted, and then bowlers start to work me out, so now they have plans for me. Now it’s my job to go back and try and beat those plans.
“Then no doubt there’ll be that time where it goes back and forth, the fights I guess between the bat and ball, they’ll push hard and then I’ll push back, and hopefully I can come out on top. I’ve been working hard with Chris Rogers up at the Academy, sending videos to him when I’ve been down in Melbourne and also been able to fly up a couple of times, so hopefully, something comes of that and I can make some runs this summer.”
Handscomb, 27, is already sensing an improvement. “I feel like I’ve got my drive back and hopefully can access the ball off the front foot a little bit better than what I have in previous years,” he said. “I still want to stay just as strong off the back foot, you don’t want to lose those strengths, but just trying to make it a complete game.”
He has been in touch with Justin Langer, the head coach, and believes spending more time with him will aid his attempts to get back into form. “We have had a few chats, either through email, text messages or a phone call,” said Handscomb. “It’s been awesome, he’s been so accessible and very open and honest conversations.
“I’ve shared some footage with him as well of my current batting and seeing what he thinks and then we can have a discussion about that and move forward. It’s been a really nice start and look forward to doing some work with him in person.”
Handscomb will soon tour the sub-continent with Australia A, and is hoping to retain his spot in the Test team with the weight of runs. “There’s going to be guys really trying to take their opportunity and step up and push their case for Test selection,” he said. “I’ll be doing the same to try to retain my spot, show I’m a good player of spin and hopefully set myself up for the Australian summer.
“Personally I feel like I am a really good player of spin and I hope I will go over there and make runs. I have done that before on the subcontinent, so I hope I can do that again. It [playing spin] is just about getting my feet moving as fast as possible, whether that’s coming down the track or playing off the back foot.”
Australia A take on India A, India B and South Africa A in a quadrangular series from 17 to 29 August, and will stay on to play two four-day matches against India A from 2 September.