'Evicted' Cowan confident about having 'game' to fit in remaining batting sports for Ashes

Evicted Australian opener Ed Cowan has said that he believes that he has the game to fit in one of the three other batting spots up for grabs for the Ashes.

Ousted from the opening position where he has played all his Tests and all but 17 of his first-class innings in favour of Chris Rogers, the deposed opener had no choice but to swallow his disappointment and search his place in the remaining spots in the order, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Although the report stated that the No.3 spot, where Cowan was expected to bat against Worcestershire in the tour game starting on Tuesday, would be the most suitable spot, however, the player felt confident after battling out a gruelling ICC Champions Trophy series against India's spinners that he could combat England's charismatic off-spinner Graeme Swann if he was moved further down the order.

Stating that he felt that as an opener he can bat anywhere, Cowan said that having been through four Tests in India, he would be more comfortable if he were to come in the middle order against spin, adding that if a player can open the batting against the new ball, he can easily come in against the older ball, although he admitted that the reverse would be hard on a player.

According to the report, although Cowan has not been anything other than an opener in the Sheffield Shield since 2008-09, he however, bats at three in one-day cricket for Tasmania and shuffled down to five when former skipper Ricky Ponting was in town last summer.

Stating that he would have some experience batting down the order if he is selected, Cowan further said that it would be a big challenge for him to find a way to distract himself until the time to bat, adding that as an opener, he had to start right away and did not have any time to think about the consequences.

According to Cowan, it will be necessary for him to relax and not waste too much energy while he waits to bat if he is selected in the middle order, adding that he is looking forward to dealing with the challenge.

Grateful that he was at least told where he stood, in keeping with new coach Darren Lehmann's honesty policy, Cowan also said that all sportsmen can deal with honest information whether negative or positive.

Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, David Warner and Steve Smith are all competing for batting spots, the report added.