ALL SORTED

Handscomb reckons he’s fixed his flaws

TEST batsman Peter Handscomb has been sending videos of his tweaked batting technique to Australian coach Justin Langer confident he has found the method to continue his international career.

Handscomb, who batted at No.4 in place of suspended Steve Smith in the final Test in South Africa in March, conceded it was “open slather” for spots in the team with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft also banned. The Victorian captain is part of a Test-strength Australia A squad, which includes fellow incumbents Usman Khawaja and Matt Renshaw, heading to India in August and September.

Langer will pick his first Test team, for two matches against Pakistan in the UAE in October, after the tour.

Handscomb conceded international bowlers worked him out after he burst on to the scene with two centuries in his first three Tests.

So the newly engaged 27year-old has tapped in to Langer as well as flying to Brisbane for work with former Test opener Chris Rogers — now a Cricket Australia batting coach — to drill down on what he needs to do to secure his spot in a baggy green cap.

“I’ve definitely gone back and looked at my technique and tinkered with a few things,” Handscomb said.

“That’s how the game goes a little bit when you come into it. No one really knew how I batted then bowlers worked me out, they have plans for me, now it’s my job to go back and try and beat those plans. “I’ve been working hard. “I feel like there is an improvement.”

Handscomb has been in constant contact with Langer who will be part of a pre-tour camp for the Australia A squad in Brisbane next month.

The right-hander moved to clarify his part in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa and said “editing” made it look like a message, via walkie-talkie, from then coach Darren Lehman ended with him talking to Bancroft who was filmed hiding sandpaper in his pants.

“I was on the walkie-talkie, then 25 or 30 minutes later a player comes off because they needed to go to the bathroom, so as the next fielder, I came on. I got put in a catching position next to Cam …. that’s why I was there,” Handscomb said.

He removed himself from social media in the aftermath of the calamity in Cape Town.