Cowdrey would relish chance to face aussies

Kent batsman Fabian Cowdrey has raised his bat in recognition of reaching 50 just once so far this season, writes Richard Harvey. That was his 54 in the second innings of the drawn LV= County Championship clash against Glamorgan at Canterbury in May. But the 22-year-old remains positive about not letting that statistic get to him. Cowdrey said: “The truth is that I feel in good nick – I just haven’t capitalised on the starts I’ve made. “I have had a few 30s and 40s but not gone on with it. That’s the way it goes in this game. “Sometimes you can’t cash-in but hopefully I can remedy that soon and go on and get a big score.” Kent host Australia at Canterbury next week and Cowdrey would love to play against captain Michael Clarke’s side in the opening game of their Ashes tour. He said: “It can only be a positive for a young batsman like me to play against such a strong bowling unit like they have in Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. “It will provide a stiff learning curve testing yourself against the best in the world and I would thrive on the challenge. I hope I get the opportunity to do so.” After playing in Friday night’s NatWest T20 Blast South Group loss against Hampshire in Canterbury, Cowdrey – whose top score in the competition this season is his 42 against Surrey at Beckenham – didn’t put his feet up on Saturday. He played for Lordswood in the Kent League, Premier Division clash against Sevenoaks Vine but he couldn’t prevent the bottomside losing by three wickets. Cowdrey was out for one and took 1-33 with his left-arm spin.