Notts complete signing of Cowan

By Dave Bracegirdle

Nottinghamshire have completed the signing of Australian opening batsman Ed Cowan for the first half of the 2013 season. The left-hander is then set to feature for Australia when the 2013 Investec Ashes series begins at Trent Bridge in July.

“I was very keen to play some Division One cricket and I’m pleased to have the opportunity to do that with Nottinghamshire,” said Cowan, 30. “There are a lot of good players at the club and Trent Bridge is a great venue so I’m hoping to make a good contribution on and off the field.”

Nottinghamshire director of cricket Mick Newell plans to sign a second overseas player to fill the berth when Cowan joins up with the Australian team ahead of the Ashes series.

“Ed has an excellent record in Test cricket and there was an opportunity to sign him for a decent period given that a lot of Australian players were set to spend time in England on an A tour in preparation for the Ashes,” said Newell.

“Our priority was to find a player who we felt could score a good volume of runs in four-day cricket but Ed has a good one-day record as well and we’re confident that he can make a difference for us.”

Cowan played three matches for Gloucestershire in Division Two last summer, as well as a handful of matches for Australia A. His other experiences of English conditions were while he attended Oxford University a decade ago and when he played a few games for Scotland in 2007.

Born in New South Wales, Cowan plays his Sheffield Shield cricket for Tasmania and replaces a fellow Australian as Nottinghamshire’s overseas player, with Adam Voges returning a disappointing average of just 31.30 from nine County Championship matches in 2012.

Cowan will be available for seven Championship matches and eight Clydesdale Bank 40 matches, with his final appearance likely to be against Sussex at Trent Bridge on Friday June 21.

Date: 20/12/2012 09:00:28 by Dave Bracegirdle
In: Today | Nottinghamshire |