Handscomb confident of earning Aussie recall as he defends style

Axed batsman Peter Handscomb, 26, defended his technique as he eyes a return to Australia's XI.

Mitchell Marsh's all-round ability was preferred to the one-dimensional Peter Handscomb for the Perth Test.

Peter Handscomb said it "sucks" sitting on the sidelines for the Ashes but the Australia batsman is confident of earning a Test recall.

Handscomb was dropped for the third Test in Perth and his replacement – all-rounder Mitchell Marsh – solidified his position in the line-up with a 181-run knock as Australia defeated England by an innings and 41 runs.

Read: Dominant Australia regains Ashes with crushing innings win

The 26-year-old paid the price for scores of only 14, 36 and 12 against England, with his unorthodox batting technique under the spotlight.

However, Handscomb defended his batting as he eyes a return to Australia's XI.

"I'm quite confident with the way I'm batting at the moment," Handscomb told reporters on Friday. "I'm not really that worried about my game at the moment. I know how well I can play and I know how tough Test cricket is.

"[If] I come back in at any stage I'm pretty confident I'll be able to come in and make runs. I can't bowl, Mitch can bowl and on a Perth wicket it can be a long fielding innings," he said.

"We won the Test and the Ashes, so no issues there. You can always understand it - it sucks sitting on the sidelines - but it's still awesome to be a part of the squad."

Handscomb added: "I was doing the exact same thing last year, but I was making runs so my technique was OK then. This year I'm doing the same thing but haven't made the runs so all of a sudden my technique's not good enough. It's just funny how that can happen."

Marsh is set to retain his place for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, with Australia enjoying an unassailable 3-0 series lead after reclaiming the Ashes.

Read: Marsh century leaves family with full hearts and fuller bladders

But Handscomb has remained part of Australia's 13-man squad for the MCG showdown, opting not to join his Melbourne Stars team-mates in the Big Bash League.

"You need to be there ready to go with your long-format, Test skills," Handscomb said. "Rather than going back and trying to slog the white ball around and potentially changing a few things in your game. It's good to stay around the squad and make sure I'm ready to go if called upon."