Cowan says he's getting better at Tests

Updated January 02, 2013 09:26:05

Australian opener Ed Cowan believes he is a better player now than he was just over 12 months ago when he scored four consecutive centuries to knock down the door for Test selection.

Cowan has averaged a modest 34.10 in 12 Tests since his debut in last summer's Boxing Day Test, but feels he is not far from more consistent big scores at the top level heading into Thursday's dead-rubber third Test against Sri Lanka in Sydney.

The 30-year-old said he has wasted opportunities to add to the maiden Test century he scored in Brisbane against South Africa in November.

He was disappointed he could not regain his concentration in Melbourne last week after he was involved in a run-out with Phil Hughes. Cowan was dismissed a short time later for 36.

Looking back at his first year in the job, Cowan says the Test caper is harder than it looks but he feels he is learning from mistakes.

"Those four hundreds in a row which capped off being picked last year, I don't think I'm playing any worse now," he said.

"I just think sometimes the game rolls with you a little bit and luck plays its part.

"Looking back at the dismissals, none are really screaming 'you're out of form or technically you're in trouble', so I think that's a good thing.

"It doesn't feel like I don't know where my next run is coming from, it's just a question of getting my head down for a bit longer."

Cowan said he was enjoying the prospect of redemption in the SCG Test, after last year failing against India.

Born and raised in Sydney, Cowan was unwanted by NSW, before moving to Tasmania to build his case for Test selection.

Cowan says he feels at ease in his home town rather than believing he has an axe to grind.

"It was disappointing last year to sit and watch all those runs (SCG centuries by Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey)," he said.

"But at the same time it was a great learning curve as to the hunger required on a good wicket in Sydney and if you do get in to really go big.

"It's just nice to go to your parents' home and have a cup of tea and just a bit of normality and get away from it all."

Australia will hold a light training session on Wednesday morning and captain Michael Clarke is likely to finalise his line-up.

Glenn Maxwell is tipped to make his debut filling the all-rounder boots of the injured Shane Watson (calf), while Mitchell Starc is favoured to come back into the fast bowling rotation at the expense of Jackson Bird.

Another option is to play Johnson as the allrounder over Maxwell and Bird retain his place following an impressive debut last week.

Clarke is thought to be a certain starter despite hamstring trouble.

AAP

Tags: cricket, sport, sydney-2000, nsw, australia, sri-lanka

First posted January 02, 2013 09:26:05

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CA sees day-night Tests as inevitable

Updated October 30, 2012 17:58:37

Cricket Australia (CA) wants to start playing day/night Tests as soon as practical after the International Cricket Council (ICC) gave its seal of approval to the concept.

Late on Monday the ICC announced that Tests can finally take place under lights, with teams deciding on the hours of play and the brand, type and colour of the ball to be used.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has long argued that the game needs to recognise that fans have a better chance of watching Test cricket if it is played at night.

"Test cricket is by definition played on at least three week days, times when most people are at work or school, and this limits the ability of fans to attend or watch on TV," he said in a statement.

"We limit ourselves by staging cricket's premium format at times when fans often cannot watch."

He said when a Test was played in Perth, three hours behind the cities of Sydney and Melbourne, the television audience was much higher because fans on the east coast were home from work.

"CA has a formal strategic plan that demands that Australian cricket puts fans first and we will now add day/night Tests to the agenda when we talk to other Test nations about their future tours Down Under," he said.

However, Sutherland added that he did not want to create expectations that day/night Tests were imminent.

"Finding a Test ball that is as easily visible in the day as it is at night is still a technical work in progress that the ICC is now leading and it has not yet been possible to predict when such a ball might be available," he said.

While the traditional red ball is not regarded as suitable for playing at night, because it is not as visible as it is during the day, the white ball used in one-day internationals was not durable enough for Tests, he added.

Experiments have included playing with pink, orange and yellow balls.

AFP

Tags: cricket, sport, australia

First posted October 30, 2012 17:58:37

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Proteas bowlers may struggle in Tests: Cowan

Updated September 23, 2012 14:09:59

Ed Cowan sees South Africa as clearly the best Test team in the world but is not convinced its bowlers will be as potent in Australia as they were in England.

Cowan led an Australia A side in two rain-affected, drawn Tests against the England Lions last month, top-scoring for his side in both matches to consolidate his place alongside David Warner in the Test lineup.

The Proteas defeated England's first XI 2-0 at the same time and, though impressed with what he saw, Cowan feels their form in the northern hemisphere gives little indication as to how they will fare in the upcoming three-Test series in Australia.

"They're obviously the best team in the world," Cowan told Grandstand. "I've thought that for a while.

"It was nice to get close hand experience of watching them closely.

"But the conditions are very, very different in Australia than they are in England.

"Their bowlers bowled well in English conditions. The challenge for them is to come here and do the same."

Though the Gabba and WACA pitches would appear suited to Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, Cowan said there is also a high-risk factor, as well as potential great reward, on these tracks.

"They're both wickets that you need to bowl in the right areas," Cowan said. "The margin for error is smaller.

"If you get it right it can be very dangerous for the batsmen but if you get it wrong the ball can go all round the park.

"There's more margin for length error in England than there is on those two wickets.

"The ball spun for (Imran) Tahir which might not happen here - he cleaned up the (English) tail because of it.

"It's a new tour, they haven't seen a lot of our Test cricketers before and I think they're going to be really pushed by an Australian team that's been playing some strong cricket."

Tags: sport, cricket, australia, tas

First posted September 23, 2012 13:09:09

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Sri Lanka's Malinga quits Tests

Posted April 23, 2011 08:19:00

Injury-prone Sri Lanka paceman Lasith Malinga has quit Test cricket in a bid to prolong his career in one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches.

Malinga is playing for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and had recently made himself unavailable for Sri Lanka's tour of England, attracting criticism that he had chosen to play for club over country.

"In January this year I wrote a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket and released a statement to the media confirming that I planned to reassess my Test future after the World Cup," he said in a statement.

"I decided that I needed to make myself unavailable for Test cricket in an effort to prolong my career as a national cricketer for Sri Lanka.

"Although I am sufficiently fit to play both ODI and T20 cricket, I have a long-standing degenerative condition in my right knee that needs to be carefully managed."

The 27-year-old Malinga, known for bowling accurate yorkers, bagged 101 wickets in 30 Tests with his slinging action since making his debut against Australia in Darwin in 2004.

He took a three-year break from Test cricket until coming back to the format when he figured in a home series against India in 2010. He has three five-wicket hauls in a Test innings to his credit.

"I did try to return to Test cricket after a three-year absence last year following requests from the team management and the selectors, but it left me unfit nursing severe knee pain for two months," Malinga said.

"I have realised that the heavy workload of Test cricket, which requires a fast bowler to be able to bowl more than 15 overs, sometimes on consecutive days, could lead to permanent injury.

"I have carefully considered my options and have decided that not playing Test cricket will help me achieve my goal of representing Sri Lanka in the 2012 World Twenty20 and the 2015 World Cup."

- AFP

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