Sydney, Apr 23 (IANS): Australian batsman Peter Hanscomb is confined to his residence like all other cricketers with the sport coming to a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, he has used this time to get over his fear of riding horses.

Handscomb has revealed he used one of his wife's horses to do so. "My wife has four horses. And in seven years, I've refused to get on them out of sheer (being) scared of the size of them and all of that," the 28-year-old told reporters in a video conference on Thursday.

Handscomb's wife is Australian equestrian Sarah Ray, who missed out on competing for her country at the 2016 Olympics due to an ankle injury.

"So the other day I actually decided, 'Right, it's time.' So I jumped on a horse, we basically just went for a little walk and it was delightful."

Handscomb earlier said he is optimistic of Australia being able to host the T20 World Cup slated to be held in October-November later in the year.

"Looking at what other sports are trying to do at the moment, it's great to see the football codes in Australia are looking to get back soon at least to training," Handscomb said in a video uploaded by Cricket Australia (CA).

"They're going to try to start their season end of May, June-July. If that does go ahead, then I consider that it could set a real good precedent for sport in Australia coming into our summer.

"Now obviously, their teams are in Australia and it might be different from international travel but I think its a positive step when we talk about sports being played again," he added.