Ed Cowan, the former Nottinghamshire batsman who scored a century for New South Wales over the weekend, retains ambitions of a return to the Australia setup.

The 33-year-old opener played seven first-class matches during an early season stint at Trent Bridge prior to the Ashes series of 2013.

Having featured in the opening Test of the series in Nottingham, scoring nought and 14, the former Gloucestershire man was dropped and is yet to regain his place.

But having scored four centuries in nine matches and averaged 47.94 in last season’s Sheffield Shield for Tasmania - and started life with his new state by posting a 138-ball 100 in a winning cause against Western Australia - a reinvigorated Cowan is gunning for an opportunity to replace the retiring Chris Rogers at the top of the order.

"I wouldn’t still be playing if I didn’t want to be playing Test cricket,” he said. 

"I don’t read too much into one-day cricket form, the Shield stuff is where it’s at in terms of the Test team. 

"I felt like my last Shield season was a really strong one for me. 

"If I can build on that, there are obviously positions available, so if you’re scoring runs then anyone’s a chance."

Having not been selected for the ill-fated tour of Bangladesh, which was scrapped for security reasons, Cowan seems to be down the pecking order behind the likes of Cameron Bancroft, Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja.

But the former Outlaw believes another prolific Shield campaign will make him hard to ignore, particularly when he’s sharing a dressing room with the new Test captain Steven Smith.

"I don’t think I’ve ever played better across all formats and I’m really confident in my game at the moment," said Cowan.

"The improvements I’ve made since falling out of the Test team are significant. If I had another crack then I feel as though I’m ready to go.

"I think every time you get runs in front of the Test captain it goes a long way. It’s different to him opening up the paper and seeing runs.

"He gets to see how you’re playing and the improvements you’ve made and hopefully he can go back when they sit down at the selection table and say ‘he’s playing well’.”

 

The 2015 season has seen dramatic last-gasp four day victories, thrilling limited-overs contests and an historic Investec Ashes Test, all in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge.

Next season, we’d wager, will be no less enthralling and frankly we’d hate for you to miss out.

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