{"id":21127,"date":"2026-03-12T09:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T09:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/2026\/03\/12\/sheffield-shield-2025-26-peter-handscomb-finds-a-way-in-another-season-favouring-bowlers\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T09:39:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T09:39:00","slug":"sheffield-shield-2025-26-peter-handscomb-finds-a-way-in-another-season-favouring-bowlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/2026\/03\/12\/sheffield-shield-2025-26-peter-handscomb-finds-a-way-in-another-season-favouring-bowlers\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield Shield 2025-26 – Peter Handscomb finds a way in another season favouring bowlers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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No one has scored more Sheffield Shield goals over the past five years than Peter Handscomb.<\/div>\n

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Only two players have scored more first-class runs globally over the same period: Ben Compton and Shan Masood. So there’s no one better qualified to talk about the challenges of hitting the Shield right now.<\/p>\n

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With one round remaining, there is a distinct possibility that no batsman will surpass 800 regular-season runs for the first time in a completed home and away Shield summer since 2017-18, discounting two COVID-reduced seasons in 2019-20 and 2021-22.<\/p>\n

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However, compared to 2017-18, when the final five rounds of the season were played at Dukes ball in preparation for the 2019 Ashes, the individual averages in 2025-26 are much lower. The top 14 scorers in this season’s competition all have averages below 41.76 and only two of them average above 40.<\/div>\n

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Matt Renshaw, the Shield’s leading scorer in 2017-18, is an unusual player this year. He is 15th in total runs but is the only player to have made three centuries, as he managed in 2017-18, and is averaging 57.70, but has batted only in the eighth innings due to national team duties.<\/div>\n

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Handscomb, who is the leading scorer this season with teammate Sam Harper with 640 runs in 35.55 seconds, believes the desire to have pitches that produce results is a major part of why batting has become so difficult.<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt feels like a few years ago the wicket stopped breaking and it stopped backing up,\u201d Hansdcomb said. \u201cSo we had to try to find a way to move the game forward at some stage so that kind of happened at the start of the game and then the resulting wicket, [states] Those who produced flat wickets earned a draw. So if you’ve got half your games in a draw and everyone else is getting results, you’re a little bit behind.<\/p>\n

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"I feel like everyone has made the resultant wicket now. It’s a bit of a shame because the batting is getting really tough. And I think the reverse swing is also a little bit out of the game because the ball isn’t getting any rougher anymore. The square is really, really green and really soft. I don’t know if we’re losing a little bit of that Australian reverse swing and that blistering speed, but the way the game is going, it’s happening.”<\/p>\n

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If you feel comfortable playing and missing, and understand that you will miss a lot of balls and might get hit a few times, but are still there, you are doing your job.<\/p>\n

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Peter Handscombe’s batting mindset<\/p>\n

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Victoria are trying to become only the second team in Shield history to win eight games in a season in Saturday’s game against South Australia, which could be a preview of the final if Queensland cannot beat Tasmania.<\/p>\n

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Handscomb claims there have been more three-day finishes (nine) than draws (seven) over the nine rounds so far this season, including two three-day matches in the most recent round, with some draws affected by rain.<\/p>\n

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There is a suggestion that the current version of the Kookaburra ball, which has two coats of lacquer and more pronounced seams, has done the job as well as the 2017-18 Dukes ball. However, Handscomb echoed the sentiments of others who believed pitching was more of a problem because the ball had little wear.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think it\u2019s closer to the surface than the ball,\u201d he said. \u201cYou always feel like there\u2019s something going on because you don\u2019t rough up the ball that much. Then you have that traditional swing and the seams are tight. So you always feel like you\u2019re doing something.\u201d<\/p>\n

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So how to survive as a batter? Handscomb has had a double century, a double century and three ducks over a rollercoaster season, highlighting the lottery of his current Shield batting.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn my game, I try to keep it as simple as possible and not take a lot of shots,\u201d Handscomb said. \u201cI try to keep the ball in certain areas enough to score a few runs, and everything else is just defending like crazy and hoping it doesn\u2019t get the edge on you.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBe comfortable when you make plays and when you miss, and understand that you\u2019re going to miss a lot of balls, you might get hit a few times, but if you\u2019re still out there, you\u2019re doing your job.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Handscomb still hopes to add 20 Test matches. There has been a vacancy at number five in the Australian Test side following Usman Khawaja’s retirement, but given his experience in such conditions, it seems more likely that he will be considered for the fifth Test tour of India early next year. However, his form in Shield cricket is unlikely to have much bearing on that tour, as he mentioned, considering how little spin is bowled in the competition due to the pitch.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve seen what the amazing spinners that play in Australia can do in Test matches and how they can start a game just by not only having fast bowlers all along, but also getting up to speed,\u201d Handscomb said. \u201cSo there is a nuance to being able to use spinners in long-format games, and it\u2019s a shame these green wickets are taking them away a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

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