Ed Cowan’s critics need to calm down
Columnist By Luke Doherty, 27 Jan 2012 Luke Doherty is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Australian Cricket, Cricket, Ed Cowan, John Inverarity, Test cricket
Ed Cowan plays a shot during the first innings of the first cricket Test between Australia and India at the MCG in Melbourne, Monday, Dec 26, 2011. (AAP Image/Julian Smith).
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Calls for Ed Cowan to be dropped from the Australian test team border on ridiculous and should be completely ignored by chairman of selectors John Inverarity.
If there’s a permanent marker sitting around at Cricket Australia’s headquarters in Melbourne then can someone please pop it in an express post bag bound for Western Australia.
Inverarity needs it to write Cowan’s name on the squad list for the upcoming tour of the West Indies.
Have we really become that impatient that a bloke who has played four tests and scored two half centuries is considered to be in danger of being punted?
The calls for Cowan’s head haven’t been as vocal as the screams that followed Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey through the spring or the dark shadow that seemingly follows Shaun Marsh on his brief walks from the pavilion to the middle and back.
Still, the fact Cowan is being mentioned in conversations about an unstable top three is staggering.
You could argue it’s not a fantastic time to be making this argument after Cowan, David Warner and Shaun Marsh added a combined total of 79 runs to Australia’s tally across two innings in Adelaide, but Marsh is a different argument to Cowan and Warner at the moment.
I’d argue that performances need to be considered in a broader context rather than a knee jerk reaction to one test.
Cowan had a test average of 41.5 heading into the fourth test in Adelaide. The left hander scored 68 in Melbourne on debut and backed that up with 74 in Perth.
Sydney wasn’t the best of outings, making 16 in the first innings before being denied the opportunity to bat a second time thanks to a triple century from Michael Clarke.
Adelaide hasn’t been a highlight, but it’s far from terrible. He scored 30 in the first innings and 10 in the second. It has dragged his average down to a more modest 34.33 for the series, but this is a guy who is still finding his feet at the top level.
He hasn’t underperformed nor over achieved. He’s sitting in a comfortable middle ground.
The fact he hasn’t scored a hundred yet shouldn’t count against him at the selection table. Why? His test career is only four matches old!
Patience in modern cricket is non-existent.
The best thing about Cowan is that he occupies the crease. While Warner is blasting away with his hybrid Twenty20/Test technique, Cowan is at the other end ensuring he has a constant partner, frustrating the bowlers and taking the shine off the ball.
During this series he has spent a total of 683 minutes at the crease. 683 minutes!
Part of the brief given to an opener is to protect the middle order from fired up pacemen with a shiny red ball and a taste for blood. He gets a pass mark for this against India.
Last week, Cowan told me the impending return of Shane Watson didn’t phase him at all. His job was to score runs and the selectors would have to fit the all rounder in somewhere else. Two half centuries in your debut test series should be enough.
The century will come. Cowan admitted that he had thought about the milestone a little too much. That tends to happen when you have to wait until you’re almost 30 before getting a baggy green cap.
If he’s picked on the tour of the West Indies I’d bet he racks up the first of many big scores when the first test gets underway on April 7 in Barbados.
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You can follow Luke Doherty on Twitter @Luke_Doherty and on Sky News Australia.
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- Explore:
- Australian Cricket, Cricket, Ed Cowan, John Inverarity, Test cricket
January 27th 2012 @ 6:06am
Red Kev said | January 27th 2012 @ 6:06am | Report comment
Good Call.
While I don’t think Cowan is a long term test player he is a very good short term prospect (2-3 years until Phil Hughes reworks his technique and is back) – and in that time he has every chance to cement his spot.
Cowan is also a good innings steadier.
Usman Khawaja should be brought back and shown similar patience – as you put it “still finding his feet at the top level”.
January 27th 2012 @ 10:22am
lemo said | January 27th 2012 @ 10:22am | Report comment
Agree about Cowan Kev but there is no way Hughes will be back – you can’t rework that technique – too far gone
January 27th 2012 @ 6:27am
camtherose said | January 27th 2012 @ 6:27am | Report comment
Agree, but I don’t think anyone is seriously calling for his head, or certainly not anyone worth listening to.
Cowan is limited, seems to have a weakness with the angled bat from time to time, and for a player of his patience has actually gone out to some lazy shots, which he will be ropeable about. But he puts a premium on his wicket, and with the explosiveness of Warner alongside, plus the positivity of Watson (surely to return at three), Ponting and Clarke around him, there is room for a steadfast opener.
He won’t average any more than 35-38 in test cricket, but that is fine for the period that we are in at the moment, and with the talent around him.
January 27th 2012 @ 6:42am
Chris said | January 27th 2012 @ 6:42am | Report comment
“He hasn’t underperformed nor over achieved. He’s sitting in a comfortable middle ground.”
This could just as easily have been written about Usman Khawaja. And look what happened to him…
January 27th 2012 @ 10:06pm
Brendon said | January 27th 2012 @ 10:06pm | Report comment
Usman Khawaja was totally at sea and you could clearly see he didn’t know how to go about batting at test level. Until Khawaja finds how to bast the most effectively instead of batting on how he thinks he should he will not be a test batsman.
Khawaja has the technique and with 40 first class matches at now 25 hes got the experience to make it at international level but until he stops listening to the “you need a s/r of 0.0000000000000000000000001″ to succeed at tests he will struggle. Theres an 11 run difference between his test and f/c s/r. Theres absolutely no reason to have such a large difference.
January 27th 2012 @ 8:05am
Justin said | January 27th 2012 @ 8:05am | Report comment
Id sooner see Marsh go before anyone else. The bloke can only score runs on low Asian decks and should never have been picked as a Test player.
January 27th 2012 @ 8:09am
B.A Sports said | January 27th 2012 @ 8:09am | Report comment
I haven’t heard anyone say he should be dropped?
January 27th 2012 @ 2:21pm
WoobliesFan said | January 27th 2012 @ 2:21pm | Report comment
x2
January 27th 2012 @ 11:08pm
JPB334 said | January 27th 2012 @ 11:08pm | Report comment
x3
January 27th 2012 @ 8:18am
jamesb said | January 27th 2012 @ 8:18am | Report comment
Cowans doing fine IMO.
Both he and Warner are doing a good job. There perfect for one another. One is the steadier, the other is the blaster. The 200 run partnership they had in Perth was enjoyable to watch.
Between Warner and Cowan, they’ve only played 10 tests between them.
The problem for both of those openers is when there both out, Marsh soon follows, and Australia are 3 for once again.
My long term replacements for both openers are Marcus Harris (WA, 19) and Nic Maddison (NSW, 20).
January 27th 2012 @ 9:53am
Chaos said | January 27th 2012 @ 9:53am | Report comment
With your comment regarding Marsh, Ponting has essentially been playing at 3 this series. Why not just move him back up there and blood a young bloke at 6?
January 27th 2012 @ 9:05am
Atawhai Drive said | January 27th 2012 @ 9:05am | Report comment
Exactly who has called for Cowan to be dropped from the Australian Test team? When did they say it? In which publications or on which forums?
Name the straw man, I say.
January 27th 2012 @ 9:16am
Harry said | January 27th 2012 @ 9:16am | Report comment
Who says he should be dropped?
He’s delivered excellent steady openers knocks in two of the four tests he’s played.
Poor old Marsh is shot … however he shouldn’t have been picked in the first place. One innings in T20 does not constitute test match preparation.
Watson will return, and then lets see what happens in the second half of the shield season. Hoping a few young bats will come forward – eg .KHawaja, Hughes, Maddison, Lynn.
January 27th 2012 @ 9:51am
Chaos said | January 27th 2012 @ 9:51am | Report comment
Did you note that Marsh faced more balls in his warm up big bash then he faced for the entire Test series?
I certainly hope a few new faces throw their hat in the ring for that batting spot. Hell even recall a whily vet if they have the runs on board. Worked for Hilfy! No one thought he would be any good from what we saw of him last summer.
January 27th 2012 @ 9:18am
aussie1st said | January 27th 2012 @ 9:18am | Report comment
It really is a no brainer on who makes way for Watson. If he somehow still isn’t fit by the Caribbean well 1) I would fear for his career and 2) Khawaja probably gets another shot. If the latter happens he needs to be pushed down to 6 ideally but given Clarke and Hussey like their spots it seems he’ll be at 4.
Cowan has done alright so far, as mentioned he needs to be given time to settle in and we need to settle on an opening combo and this is the best one we have had since Katich and Watson.
January 27th 2012 @ 9:56pm
Seano said | January 27th 2012 @ 9:56pm | Report comment
Hussey has said he will bat where needed, I think put him at 3, as a former opener he will do well when Warner has a bust day which will be about half the time (love him though). My team would be Warner, Cowan, Hussey, ponting, Clarke, Watson, wade, ect.
January 27th 2012 @ 9:48am
Chaos said | January 27th 2012 @ 9:48am | Report comment
I’m not sure who has been calling for Cowan’s head but he is the sort of player we need at the top of the order. The promising thing about Cowan is he forced his way in through weight of runs and form. It gives hope to all other fringe players that form can charge you into the Australian XI. If Warner is going to stay opener, we need a sheet anchor at the other end who will hang around and also rotate the strike. From what I’ve seen I think Ed can do this role. The other likely candidate now too outspoken and deemed as old.
Sadly, it is a no brainer who will get dropped for the WI. One Shaun Marsh. It’s sad because he looked the best batsman in Sri Lanka. However he faced more balls in his one 20-20 big bash innings then he did for the 4 test Indian series. That says it all. The other thing that will stuff him up is he will likely play in the ODI’s and not in the Shield. If the selectors where smart they would just send him back to WA to find his head, form, a good back doctor and a shrink.
Khawaja will be the backup batsman for WI if Watson is fit. All the people saying Khawaja is being hard done by should have a glance at Ricky Pontings early career. He was in and out of the team for a while. In his first 22 odd test matches I’m sure he only averaged mid 30′s. Got dropped for Lehmann, Blewett even Langer at different times off memory. Came back strong.
Since Ricky has essentially been played at number 3 all series against India, I think we should also stop sending the new batsman to the slaughter and play them down the order. 5 or 6. Having two inexperienced openers, then bright eyed numbers 3 before the chiselled vets seem to be the vogue at the moment.
Thats my two cents. I hope the second half of the shield has a few new people throwing their hat into the ring. It was only last year that people where saying our fast bowling stocks were dry.
January 27th 2012 @ 10:14am
Atawhai Drive said | January 27th 2012 @ 10:14am | Report comment
Ponting should move up to 3, Clarke to 4 and Hussey to 5, with the new boy to occupy No 6. England have gun batsmen at 3, 4 and 5 _ Trott, Pietersen and Bell _ with Eoin Morgan rather shakily batting at 6. The 6 spot was occupied by Bell until he found his feet, which he has done spectacularly well.
Perhaps the Australian selectors have been looking for a Trott type to occupy No 3, but neither Khawaja nor Marsh have made that spot their own. Surely when Watson comes back he’ll be at 6, if he’s expected to bowl as much as his skipper seems to expect.
Khawaja should certainly go to the West Indies as backup batsman. Marsh seems fated to join Hughes on the outer for at least a couple of years, when retirements should open up one or two spots.