YORKSHIRE have won a notable battle with the Indian Premier League after Peter Handscomb revealed he has chosen county cricket over the riches of Twenty20.

Handscomb has opted against putting his name forward for IPL duties in order to spend a full season as the White Rose county’s overseas player in 2017.

The versatile Australian batsman, who has scored two hundreds in his first four Test Matches, has been speaking about his move to Headingley.

Handscomb, 25, is relishing the step up from Division Two cricket to Division One after spending part of the 2015 season with Gloucestershire.

He has also admitted that he now sees himself as more suited to the longer forms of the game rather than the short forms, hence his decision to shelve the chance of an IPL contract through April and May.

“I’ve just started to figure out that I’m a bit more suited to the longer form of the game,” said the Victorian, who spent the last IPL with Rising Pune SuperGiants.

“I still enjoy playing Twenty20 cricket, but I saw that IPL experience as a chance to get over there and practice in those conditions and try and figure out how to play spin in India.

“So, this year, when the opportunity has arisen to play county cricket, I thought I’d be silly not to take it and learn how to play in those conditions.”

Despite his exceptional start to life in international cricket, with him averaging 99.75, Handscomb insists he still has plenty to learn.

But he has shied away from suggestions that his forthcoming Yorkshire spell is the perfect opportunity to prepare for the 2019 Ashes series in England.

“I’m not really looking that far into the future,” he said.

“It’s just great that I’m lucky enough to be in the Australian side now, and obviously I’ll be trying to hold that spot for as long as I can.

“But it’s a great opportunity to go and learn how to play in English conditions, and to talk to some quality English players in the Yorkshire side and try and find out how they go about it in their conditions.”

Handscomb, who will be available for all formats this year, scored four fifties in 20 appearances in County Championship and T20 cricket for Gloucestershire in 2015.

“Getting over to Gloucester was awesome, to get in English conditions and try to get an understanding of how my game works over there,” he said.

“But, obviously, now it’s a step up to a stronger competition, and I’ll have to step up my own game and my own training to make sure that I’m ready to go.

“Yorkshire is an unbelievably strong side, and to get over there and play as high a standard of cricket as I can in our off-season is great preparation for our coming season.”

Handscomb is the latest in a long list of Australians to sign for Yorkshire as an overseas player.

And it was another Aussie who helped facilitate the move.

“The agreement came about through Bucky (Chris) Rogers, actually,” he added.

“Chris sent me a message saying that his manager in England was keen, or had a deal at Yorkshire, and that Yorkshire were keen to get in touch with me.

“Being close friends with Bucky, he passed on that message, and I started talking to his manager over there. That’s how it eventuated.”