Handscomb eyes silverware at Yorkshire after Roses century
AUSTRALIAN Peter Handscomb admitted his first County Championship century left a bittersweet feeling after Yorkshire were unable to engineer victory in the Roses match at Old Trafford.
Handscomb hit his first hundred in red ball cricket since signing as Yorkshire’s overseas player in the final act of the drawn match at Lancashire on Monday. The 26-year-old was in exquisite touch as he passed three figures in just 76 balls, with the match result as good as decided.
Understandably, Handscomb’s celebrations were muted in comparison to tailender Jack Brooks’s wild jubilation at scoring a first hundred in 113 first-class innings. But the eight-time Test capped batsman said he feels ready to express himself in Yorkshire’s excitable dressing room and he is daring to dream about winning trophies at Headingley this season.
“I like to feel like I’m up and about and enjoying my cricket,” Handscomb said.
“I feel like I’ve come in pretty easily. I’m definitely not as excitable as Jack (Brooks) when he scores a hundred or takes a wicket, he goes off running but that was great to see.
“It has been very easy to settle in. It’s a quality bunch of blokes and they’ve made me feel at home straight away. The culture at Yorkshire is amazing. They welcome you with open arms and make sure you’re feeling good going into every game. Everything off the field is going well too. I haven’t set myself any real targets in terms of numbers, just helping Yorkshire to a Championship.”
Handscomb’s century came on the back of a lean spell towards the end of the Royal London One Day Cup group fixtures. Having missed out in the first innings at Old Trafford when falling for 29, Handscomb was in no mood to miss out second time around.
The Australian was positive from the start with boundaries off Simon Kerrigan in his first two deliveries. He raced past the half-century mark in 36 deliveries before continuing his assault in the final session. Handscomb reached his century in the final over of the match.
Handscomb, who made his first Yorkshire century (140) in the one-day match against Derbyshire earlier this month, said: “It’s nice to spend a bit of time out there in the middle and convert the starts I had at the start of the year into a bigger score this time. I have always felt positive against spin. I was a bit disappointed with myself in the first innings in the way I was defensive.
“I really wanted to come out in the second innings and go back to my normal game plan and take it on.
“It’s all about having match winning contributions, whether that’s a 40 not out, a 20 not out or a hundred in any game.
“As long as I’m effecting each match in a positive way and helping Yorkshire towards a Championship whether that’s in four-dayers, one-dayers or the T20 then I will have done my job.”