POMMIE BLOOD IN THEIR VEINS
Handscomb and Renshaw’s Ashes mission
Peter Handscomb is a proper Melbourne boy. He sounds like a Melbourne boy, in that nasal way we pronounce our vowels. He looks like a Melbourne boy when laughing at meek sledging, a tell-tale sign of someone coming through the brutal Victorian cricket system. He dresses like a Melbourne boy, too, when out on the town. But there’s one glaring quirk. He doesn’t have an Australian Rules Football team.
In Melbourne, the home of Australia’s native footy code, that’s akin to asking a middle-aged American where they were for the Moon Landing and saying they were watching another channel at the time. To respond to that quintessential Melbourne question – “who do you barrack for?” – by saying, “I don’t have a team,” prompts immediate inquisition.
In fact, Handscomb does have a football team. But it is Manchester United.You see, his parents are both migrants from the UK so he was brought up with a round ball instead of an oval one, playing the game alongside his prolific cricket.
So he’s a Pom, then, you ask? Well, near enough, but not quite. In 2003 Darren Pattinson was a Melbourneraised boy who played for England, and maybe Handscomb could have, too, in a parallel universe. So could that Matt Renshaw kid who keeps making all the runs. He lived in Yorkshire until he was seven and still carries two passports.
But both are now very much otherwise occupied.
Football also informs Renshaw’s family story. His first cousin, Paul Woolston, served as England’s U18s goalkeeper in 2015 and is currently on Newcastle United’s books. He won national headlines as a 15-year-old after being urgently rushed into the Magpies’ reserves before keeping a clean sheet against Manchester United with Alan Pardew glowing in praise.
With any luck, you’ll be seeing him on Match Of The Day soon enough.
These are just two of many links between the duo. Receiving their Baggy Green caps together in Adelaide after Australia’s Hobart humiliation, both quickly established themselves as automatic selections across the following seven Tests. Each have lodged maiden tons, Handscomb liking it so much he clocked two before the home summer was done.
It would be a long way from now, but provided their career arcs continue as they have set out, it isn’t far fetched to expect they could end up as Australia’s next two Test captains. Soccer for warmups before Ashes contests would surely become a staple, if only to subtly rib the opposition of the heritage they share.
Steve Smith drew on a football comparison himself before his side’s gritty draw at Ranchi, saying the rubber was akin to the ‘Premiership Quarter’.
That’s Australian for third quarter, where it is said that big teams stand up in the biggest games. Through Handscomb, who scored an unbeaten 72 across 200 balls on the final day, that’s exactly what they did. In turn, this week’s final match in Dharamsala becomes an old-fashioned winner-takes-all stoush.
“It was a pretty awesome experience,” Handscomb said of making such a vital contribution for his country after being dismissed following starts between 14 and 26 in each of his five previous innings. “I’ve been feeling good over here and just been finding ways to get out, so that helps coming into the next Test having that self-belief, knowing that now I can do it.”
Dropped early, he then went chanceless through the clutch 124-run stand with Shaun Marsh spanning 62 overs. Marsh faced 197 balls himself, so many of which Ravindra Jadeja spun hard back at him from a healthy patch of rough.
Surviving those probing deliveries was just as important than the half-century he raised along the way. In turn, as it had been for Handscomb and Renshaw, his place in this side has been forcefully validated.
“We’ve all been batting well this series, so if it wasn’t myself or (Marsh) to stand up in this Test it would have been someone else after us,” Handscomb said. This is the biggest difference in Australia’s fortunes in India since they last toured in 2013 and copped a 4-0 thrashing.
Aside from David Warner, each of the Australia’s incumbent top six have made their mark at an important time so far in India. You expect that with Smith, who’s 172 looked assured from the moment he walked out.
But with Glenn Maxwell, predictions were less clear. Replacing the injured Mitch Marsh, no one divides opinion quite like the ‘Big Show’. The 104 he
In 2003 Darren Pattinson was a Melbourne-raised boy who played for England and maybe Handscomb could have in a parallel universe
responded with after more than two years away from the XI was a model of concentration and control. Returning to Renshaw, he will turn 21 during this final Test, with already 500 Test runs to his name at a healthy average of 49. Criticised for batting slowly on debut, his first six scoring strokes to open the Test were boundaries, making Warner look pedestrian. Laying a stable foundation in all three Tests, the one thing he hasn’t done is notch three figures. There will be no better time for that in this serene setting at the foot of the Himalayas. If he can, and this inexperienced batting line-up can again deliver ahead of their time, the reward is huge. A win would make Smith’s men the second from Australia to win in India since The Beatles were still writing songs. “We’re definitely aware of it,” said Handscomb of this historical overlay. From Wembley to Lord’s and everywhere in between, sporting contests don’t come much bigger than this.