Bangladesh weather was a mental preparation for the Ashes: Peter Handscomb

Peter Handscomb played one of the innings of his life when he defied all the adversities and stuck in the crease against Bangladesh a few weeks ago. He scored a spectacular 82 at Chittagong which not only helped his side post a decent total but also to win the Test match to level the series.

With the iconic Ashes coming up, Handscomb recalls his gritty knock and mentions these weather conditions helped them prepare for the mental toil against the Englishmen. The Ashes will be hosted down under this time and the Aussies are under immense pressure to triumph. Their form off-late has been disastrous and the only thing in their favor right now is the hosting rights.

Nevertheless, Handscomb believes the weather conditions in Bangladesh are the most adverse he has ever faced and hence, it would be easy to absorb the heat in Brisbane or other cities in Australia where the temperatures are relatively high.

“Definitely. More mentally than anything else I can always look back on that now and say I’ve done that. If I can survive in heat like that, I can survive in heat at the Gabba or the WACA,” the 26-year-old told local media.

“I don’t think I had anything left in the body to throw up. I was trying to take in liquid but the more I took in the sicker I felt,” he added.

Deano (Dean Jones) messaged me after that knock

Not many remember the iconic knock played by Dean Jones at the Chepauk in 1986. Extreme humidity made him puke a lot of times whilst he was in the middle, but Deano managed to fight against all the odds to register a double-ton. He also lost control of his bodily functions due to that knock.

Many have compared Handscomb’s innings at Chittagong with the former Australian’s Chennai heroics and the former had his say about this. “Deano messaged me that night,” Handscomb said. “He said ‘mate, jeez, it looked hot over there but not as hot as Madras.'”

Talking about the upcoming Ashes,  “It’s hard to say it’s just another test series, being an Ashes. This is essentially the pinnacle of test cricket. There’s almost that little bit extra on each ball, each run, each wicket.” he said.