PETER Handscomb has all the attributes needed to captain Australia's Test team, according to a man who knows him well - former opening batsman Chris Rogers.

Handscomb and Rogers go back a long way and remain close friends.

Handscomb, 26, made his first-class debut alongside the now retired left-hander for Victoria against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield at Brisbane in October 2014.

“We put on a fair bit together at the Gabba when Steve Magoffin was bowling really well,” recalled Rogers, now batting coach at Somerset.

“We both got 70s and spent a lot of time out there. I was very impressed with his character and game.

“Despite the age difference, it was the similarities in character that brought us close I reckon. We’re both competitive on the park, but a little bit more relaxed, not carefree, off it.

“Also, when he started he was a 21-year-old going on 31. He had this worldliness to him that I had a lot of time for. Both being top-order batsmen helps.”

When Yorkshire signed Handscomb as their overseas player for the majority of 2017 in late December, he had just posted scores of 54, 105, 35 not out and 54 in his first five Test innings against South Africa and Pakistan.

He was interviewed about the move to Headingley by Cricket Australia’s website, and revealed that Rogers played a part in the move.

“Pete was looking to play county cricket,” explained Rogers recently.

“Where he’s at with his cricket at the moment, he wanted to keep developing his longer version.

“He knows he can have an outstanding Test career.

“To play cricket outside Australia, I think he knew he’d learn a lot about his game, particularly with his style of play, which is suited to the bouncier wickets with his back-foot technique.

“We’re pretty good friends, and I wanted to help him out.

“I’ve never played for Yorkshire, but I’ve played enough to know they are one of the best clubs.

“To be surrounded by those guys - he’s been doing a lot of work with Gary Ballance from what I’ve heard - is great.

“It’s fantastic to see that he chose a big club with a lot of pressure and expectation to develop his game.”

Handscomb has not quite matched that early Test form in a Yorkshire shirt, but he has definitely shown glimpses of the ability that will worry England this winter, scoring a century in Championship and 50-over cricket.

He played his final game for the White Rose in Saturday's NatWest T20 Blast clash with Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

He is likely to tour Bangladesh with Australia’s Test squad next month as long as that series is not cancelled as a result of the contractual dispute currently ongoing Down Under.

Then, all attentions switch to the Ashes when, if Ballance is anything to go by, Handscomb’s back-foot technique will come under intense scrutiny from the English media.

“He has a very much home-spun technique, which has a lot of similarities with Ballance,” said Rogers.

“People will naturally look at his style and say ‘he’s got a few weaknesses because of what he does with his big trigger of back and across deep inside his crease’.

“He doesn’t get forward very much.

“He’s going to have to be strong enough to deal with that and keep believing in what he does, and he will.

“He has a lot of conviction in how he plays.

“It will be interesting to see the tactics they use against him and what the feedback will be from Root, Ballance and Bairstow etc.

“It will be a really good challenge for Pete.”

As Rogers says, Test captaincy is a long way away for Handscomb: “I think it will be difficult given Steve Smith’s going to be captain for a long time and then Davey Warner, who’s vice at the moment.

“If and when that opportunity comes along, who knows?

“He’s definitely the right kind of character. He’s calm and level-headed and doesn’t take the game too seriously or himself too seriously.

“He plays with a smile on his face.

“Not only that, he’s got great awareness and understands the game. He’s got all the attributes.”

Rogers will be working in the media at the Ashes, starting in November, and can’t wait.

He is desperate for a thriller: “I still think back to the 2005 Ashes and the interest it gave cricket over here in England,” he added.

“It’s almost crying out for one of those encounters again - a last-Test decider.

“I think everyone needs it.

“We still need to promote the longer version of the game. You hear stories about how the game is under threat domestically.

“It would be great to see one of those series.

“These two sides are quite evenly matched with some star quality. They are pretty young sides with a lot of energy, and I think it will be aggressive cricket.

“For both Joe Root, Steve Smith and a couple of other guys, it’s a chance to say ‘I’m the best batsman in the world’.

“If it got to Sydney and the Test series was on the line, it would be fantastic.”