Ed Cowan is remaining upbeat about his Test future, despite the disappointment of being dumped as an opener for the Ashes.
The step down for a player considered a specialist opener puts a question mark over the 31-year-old’s long-term viability in the team.
Shane Watson and Chris Rogers have already been told by new coach Darren Lehmann that they’ll open for the first Test in Nottingham next week.
Cowan’s best chance of playing at Trent Bridge appears to be at No.3, which is where he will bat in Australia’s final tour match against Worcestershire starting on Tuesday.
The left-hander is preparing himself for the challenge and believes he has the skills to still offer something lower down the order.
“If you can open the batting against the new ball, you can certainly come in against the older ball. It’s hard to go the other way,” Cowan said.
“There’s three other spots (3, 4 and 6) I need to be fighting it out for. I think runs this week will certainly help my case.”
Cowan averages 32.9 from his 17 Tests opening the batting and has just one century scored last year at Brisbane.
The writing was on the wall for him when county cricket run machine Rogers was included in the squad.
At 35 and with just one Test back in 2008 to his name, Rogers was hardly picked in the squad for the experience.
With Lehmann so adamant Watson needs to bat in his preferred position at the top of the order, the prospect of Cowan returning to the role he’s worked so hard for seems bleak.
Cowan has opened in 84 of the 101 first-class matches he’s played, and his brief time lower down the order was way back in his fledgling years for NSW.
He believes the hardest thing to adjust to about no longer opening will be how to focus his energies while waiting for his turn to bat.
On the tour of India earlier this year and in his English summer playing for Nottinghamshire, Cowan made plenty of starts but has been unable to kick on for big scores.
However, he sees a silver lining from his Indian experience.
“Having been through four Tests in India, if I was to come in in the middle order against spin, then I feel really comfortable doing that,” he said.
By selecting Cowan at No.3 to face Worcestershire, it suggests he’s ahead of Usman Khawaja who was left out of the final tour match.
It also appears he’s preferred higher up the order to Phil Hughes who is likely to bat at No.4 or 5, depending on where captain Michael Clarke wants to come in.
David Warner’s batting position is another unknown factor, should the suspended left-hander be picked to play in Nottingham.
Cowan believes his time batting at Trent Bridge for Nottinghamshire this season should strengthen his claims.
“I can just feel at home,” he said.
“To not play at a ground like that before, where there is quite a bit of swing, there is a little bit of natural variation in the wicket, and a few little quirks … those little things I now know of and have dealt with.”