Cowen happy with batting reinvention

Former Test opener Ed Cowan knew he had to reinvigorate his game coming into the new season and it has already paid off for Tasmania with a Sheffield Shield century and his timing might be perfect with Australia’s batting being exposed.

The 32-year-old played the most recent of his 18 Tests on the 2013 Ashes Tour and despite a solid 2013/14 season with Tasmania where he scored 755 runs at almost 40, he felt his game had deteriorated to the point he had to give it a complete overhaul.

Cowan, who felt he had become a `caricature’ of his famed defensive style, worked on reviving his ability to hit shots all round the wicket off all sorts of bowlers.

Cowan was happy with his efforts over pre-season and in the recent one-day competition and now, after a rough lbw call resulted in a duck in the first innings against Western Australia at the WACA Ground, he delivered in a big way in his second dig.

He made exactly 100 from 167 balls with 18 boundaries as he looked in the best form that he has in years, and made batting look easy, to play and watch, on a pitch most others have struggled on.

Despite the disappointment of his dismissal triggering a Tasmania collapse, and setting a target of 105 to win, Cowan was pleased with the improvements in his personal game.

“I just wasn’t happy at the end of last season with how I was batting,” he said.

“I felt like I’d become a bit of a caricature of myself and was very defensive so I wanted to find a way to get into better positions to score.

“I went back to batting how I used to as a 20-year-old combined with 10 years of experience.

“It feels like I’ve put together a nice little package. It took a bit of courage to pretty much turn my batting on its head but I guess there is some validation.”

The century was Cowan’s first in Perth but he still isn’t sure if it surpasses a crucial fighting 53 he made off 149 balls in over three hours against South Africa in 2012.

“It’s hard to gauge and probably my best innings here might have been the boring 50 against South Africa, but all of this season I have felt at the top of my game,” he said.

“Through the pre-season and one-day competition I felt as though the changes I made in the off-season have started to pay off.

“I think the fluency of my batting is back and I can score all round the ground again.”

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