'It's hard not to take that to heart': Peter Handscomb on criticism in younger days

Australian wicket-keeper batsman Peter Handscomb made his Test debut against South Africa in November 2016 and made an immediate impact by hitting a half-century. In his first four Tests, he hit two centuries and had an average of 99.75. 

However, since then, he has featured in only 16 Tests and appeared last for the Baggy Greens in 2019. However, in his recent exploits for Victoria, he amassed 697 runs in the 2021/22 edition of Sheffield Shield, earning him a place in the Australia 'A' side which tours Sri Lanka next month. 

In a recent interaction, the 31-year-old revealed that he faced flak on various social media platforms for his batting style during his younger days.

"I found those two platforms probably the worst in terms of people having direct access to you, to just randomly sledge you and take you down," Handscomb told cricket.com.au.

The Aussie cricketer thinks it's pretty hard not to take that to heart when someone is calling you 'sh*t', questioning his selection into the Australian team. 

"When someone's taking the time out to directly message you, calling you shit or 'How dare you be in the Australian side' – that kind of stuff – it's hard not to take that to heart, especially (given) I was quite young at the time," he added.

However, Handscomb reckoned that he got over the criticism during the 2017/18 edition of the Ashes. The middle-order batter further added that he would be better equipped to handle such things if he managed to play for the Australian team again.  

"I got off them during the Ashes (in 2017-18) and that was definitely one of the biggest things that helped," the Victorian suggested. 

"If that does happen again, and I am lucky enough to play for Australia again then, yeah, I think I'm better equipped to deal with everything that comes with it," he concluded. 

At present, Handscomb is leading the Middlesex side in County Championship Division II. In the latest outing, he scored 79 to help the team chase down the score of 370. 

After the culmination of the 1st half of this County season, he will depart for Sri Lanka to play a couple of one-day games and as many first-class matches for Australia 'A'.