Ed Cowan is the best batman in Australia, daylight comes second, and third comes Michael Clarke.
Alright, so that is painfully wrong, but not as painfully wrong as the chorus of voices saying Ed Cowan is the worst bat in the Aussie top six and that he should be cut from the side.
Ed Cowan had an awful Test, there is no doubt about that. He played some uncharacteristically rash shots and threw his wicket away. But to drop him after one poor Test is extremely misguided, especially considering the recent performances of the Aussie side. Here’s some numbers which make a case for Ed.
Here are the statistics for Ed Cowan, Shane Watson and Phil Hughes over the last 12 months. Hughes has played 8 Tests and averaged 32.92 with no centuries. Cowan has played 11 Tests and averaged 32.15 with one century. Shane Watson has played 7 Tests and averaged 23.92 with zero centuries.
And Cowan is the problem?
Fact of the matter is that Ed is being unfairly scapegoated by ill-informed cricket fans who think one game is enough to either destroy or deify a player. He has a recent record much stronger than Watson’s and only a hair behind Hughes. He has the runs on the board.
On the tour of India, Cowan showed the mettle and determination, which was lacking in our glass top six. Cowan averaged 33. 12 – Hughes and Watson averaged under 20 (18.37 and 16.5 respectively). How on Earth can Cowan’s head be number one on the chopping block when these two are throwing up numbers like that? It’s ludicrous.
Hughes and Watson should not go, as not everyone is a part of the ‘sack him!’ brigade, who neither have the patience nor the understanding of sport to realise that one good or one bad game isn’t enough to drop or promote a player. Even though Ed is under pressure for the second Test, to drop him from the Test side for Usman Khawaja, who I am a fan of but whose Test and recent domestic record is extremely uninspiring, is incredibly premature and a very poor decision.
Ed should open with Rogers, with Watson or Hughes at three. Shane Watson has to realise the team is more important than him and that not every decision he is involved in is worth review and that if the best position for him to play is lower in the order, then so be it. If it wasn’t for his bowling, he wouldn’t be in the side, considering the record he has had over the past year and his record for converting starts into century.
So we need to stay steady with Eddy. He may be unfashionable, but all those calling for his head are incredibly ill-informed. After his strong tour of India, he deserves a chance to redeem himself.
Khawarmy Khawarmy
Roar Pro
Usman Khawaja finally given a long over due opportunity to nail down the Number 3 spot long term!
stevedeanski
Roar Pro
Yes good call Ryan this is the point. I don't think anyone's mentioned yet that Cowan can't run between the wickets either...
Jonny Boy Jnr
Guest
Superb selection by Boof. Ed Cowan is the worst top order batsman I've ever seen don the baggy green in the 16 years I've been following test cricket. Give him one more chance, watch him fail and then he never has to select him again.
beau
Guest
May as well keep Cowan, the rest of the team have about as much patience and fight as a juiced up fevola with lara bingle bent over in front of him. Unless they are going to right their wrongs and bring back katich that is.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
And in the last two years when opening he only just scraped an average of 20. His rot run started as an opener, and before Trent Bridge his innings when opening since that point had been almost uniformly disasters. I would not have had him on the tour to begin with, but he did get some runs and so say will stay there. His last two years or so, middle order or opening, have shown he has not been a batsman of any sort in that period.
Paddy O Furniture
Roar Rookie
Cowan never set the world alight in grade cricket in sydney, It's a shuffling deck chairs on the titanic situation with this lineup
Timmuh
Roar Guru
"Cowan is not up to test level" Agreed, but he is probably the second best performed this calendar year. Cowan is probably not Test standard, but has been closer to it than almost all the top and middle order in recent times. Unfortunately with Watson getting rewarded for whinging and now opening, with Rogers, there isn't really a spot for Cowan. Number three needs to be able to up the pace in the right situation, and Ed doesn't seem equipped to do that. But there isn't a number three candidate in the whole squad. Rogers is probably the best bet for the role, but he will remain opening.
MrKistic
Roar Rookie
I wouldn't be putting Rogers in the same category. Funnily enough, he's actually been picked on recent form and performances.
Ads
Guest
Hughes is averaging 28 since coming back into the test side. That's just a hard fact. No excuses, no explanations about how he is improving etc. he came back in because he was in the form of his life on a flat Adelaide oval and has managed a mighty 28. Khawaja was dropped when his average was higher. Cowan looks like he might lose his spot any day now but still averages more than Hughes. Watson is on a par and can bowl. Warner is averaging significantly higher. Wade averages more. I just don't get it. His runs against SA on debut seem to have given him a further 20+ tests because everyone is waiting for him to do it again. Maybe it was just a big fluke?
Ads
Guest
Ofcourse he is a prospect, he hasnt been given a run in the side to really get a firm grasp on whether he has what it takes. Given how rubbish the Australiam batting has been for the past 12 months, it's hard to understand why all the batsmen in the squad wouldn't have played a game or 3 by now. Ohhh wait they all have, even that joke Maxwell except for Khawaja. Difficult to fathom.
Renegade
Guest
I've always been a massive fan of Katich....however playing county seconds is a bit different to playing against England. Can't really use that as a legitimate reason to throw him into the test side.
Bobbo7
Guest
Bailey should be given a chance. Good bat and steady head.
davos
Guest
ive been wondering for a while now if the team might be better off without watso ....maybe just time to move on ....he cannot be relied apon as a bowler ....never know how long he will last ...much the same with his batting really ...looks good for a while and then plays to aggressively and nicks off...his lack of centuries for innings batted is damming
Glenn Innis
Guest
I might add all those averages produced above are rather sad, and Khawaja's recent first class record combined with his test efforts inspire little confidence, it's going to rest with Clarke making good runs, and our bowlers knocking England over cheaply - I have no faith in our batsmen full stop..
AnthonyDArcy
Guest
Actually, Watto's low average for the past 12 months has a bit to do with him being demoted from opener. During the two or three years he had as opener he averaged 43, far more than he ever had as a middle order bat. Granted however, he did drop off in form slightly towards the end of that period. But if anything, his last year or so is proof that he is not a middle order bat.
Glenn Innis
Guest
Watson simply doesn't grab me as opening batsmen, he is a number six or seven as far as I am concerned and the stats produced above support my view - an opening bat averaging low twenties for the last twelve months, simply not good enough. Watson strikes me as a quality bowler who can bat a bit - no7 material.
Connor
Roar Rookie
He is quite a good opener, and seems to work well with Warner, who unfortunately is unavailable, being a stable counterbalance to Warner's risk-taking play. Seems strange that he is No. 3.
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
I think the issue with Cowan is 'potential'. In other words, he's reached it. This is as good as Cowan is going to get, yet the other batsmen, despite having similar records (or worse), have shown that their ceiling is much higher. Cowan was a solid first class player, so to presume that he would be better - or even the same - at Test level, is madness.
davos
Guest
well what about katich ..theres a few trying to beat that drum ....scored 200 playing county seconds ....we could do a lot worse
Dan of SA
Guest
In a way Cowan is (...in fact all of the batsmen are...) very lucky because we don't exactly have another half a dozen batsmen bashing down the door to come into the side. Between the tail end of the Shield, Australia A matches in Australia and the UK, English County and official Tour matches there have been very few Australian batters putting up their hand with large and consistent FC scores (adding in OD and T20 doesn't improve the figures either - look at Warner!). In the lead up to the Ashes we've had Rogers make a couple hundreds and Cowan a few 40-50 scores for their Counties, while Smith and Khawaja did ok in a couple of the A and Tour matches...but no one else has really stood out. Maybe Boof should get in the nets.