Sydney: Australia opener Ed Cowan has welcomed the challenge of facing a fearsome South African bowling attack, boasting of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel during the upcoming series against the Proteas.
Cowan enjoyed a promising start to his career as Australian Test opener with 68 on debut in the Boxing Day Test against India last summer.
But since then the 30-year-old opener has failed to register a big score. Cowan averages 29.83 in his seven Tests against India and the West Indies.
Coach Mickey Arthur has predicted a “baptism of fire” for the duo when the three-Test series gets underway at the Gabba on November 9.
Cowan said: “If you are proving yourself against the South Africans at the moment you are a high quality Test player. And it also makes it pretty clear cut if you are scoring runs against them as opposed to Bangladesh or Zimbabwe when everyone is still asking questions, saying ``oh he wouldn`t do it against the best team in the world``. Well here we are ... the best team in the world, let`s see how good we are.”
He admitted he’s struggled somewhat with the increased scrutiny of his cricket that came with his unexpected rise to the Australian side.
“When you are in the Australian cricket team you can expect scrutiny, and that scrutiny is a great deal more than you get in state cricket. No one is safe in the Australian cricket team, you have to be scoring runs to be consistently picked,” Cowan said.
ANI
First Published: Friday, October 19, 2012, 14:22