It hurt to not be in Australia's 26-man preliminary squad: Peter Handscomb
Australia batsman Peter Handscomb is hurt after being overlooked for Australia's 26-man preliminary squad for a potential limited-overs series in England in September but is not giving up on his 2023 World Cup dreams just yet.
All-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who hasn't played for Australia since last October, made the cut to the list, while Handscomb, Shaun Marsh and Nathan Coulter-Nile were ignored.
"I saw a post on Instagram that Australia had named a 26-man squad for the ODIs in England," Handscomb told cricket.com.au. "I was like, 'Oh cool, all right. I guess I'm not in that!' That sucked.
"I was in the 15-man squad to go to India in January. I still thought I was in the top 20 one-day players given what I had done over the last year and a half. To not be in the 26, that really hurt.
"Going from being in the 15 and then having 11 guys essentially jump me -- I know they're different roles and different positions -- but that hurt a fair bit."
Handscomb said he had an honest conversation with new selector George Bailey, who has hinted he's not out of contention for the 2023 World Cup to be played in India.
"I had a really, really good conversation with George," said the 29-year-old, who has returned to pre-season training in Melbourne after a planned county stint with Middlesex fell through due to COVID-19 restrictions.
"I just wanted to get clarification around how I had gone from being in the 15 to not being in the 26.
"To his credit he said I'm competing against guys like Smudge (Smith), Marnus and (wicketkeeper Alex) Carey as well in terms of guys who control the middle order. They're pretty solid at the moment in terms of three, four, five (in the batting order).
"I argued that I had made runs and could push a case there, but I'm going up against some pretty good players in terms of trying to steal their spots.
"I understood that decision, that's fine, but that didn't mean it hurt any less. It was really good to have that conversation with George to get that clarity."
