Ousted Cowan open to landing new spot in batting order No longer an opener for Australia, Ed Cowan has an adjustment to make. Evicted from the opening position where he has played all his Tests and all but 17 of his first-class innings, Ed Cowan began his search for a new home convinced he has the game to fit in somewhere else. The most natural of those would be No.3, where he was expected to bat against Worcestershire in the tour game starting on Tuesday, but Cowan felt confident after toughing out a gruelling series against India's spinners that he could combat England's charismatic off-spinner Graeme Swann if he was moved further down the order. And particularly now, having been through four Tests in India, if I was to come in in the middle order against spin then I really feel comfortable doing that. I don't know if I could have said that not having been through that," Cowan said. Cowan started his career for NSW at No.5 but hasn't been anything other than an opener in the Sheffield Shield since 2008-09. That will be the biggest challenge, finding a way to distract yourself until it's time to bat because one thing about opening the batting is you start preparing when they're eight or nine down, you've got 10 minutes to put your pads on and away you go. If it's in the middle order, do you relax, do you stay up, don't waste too much energy, all those little things. That will be a challenge but it's something I'm just going to have to deal with. In 17 matches as Australia's Test opener, Cowan averages 32, and hasn't been able to shrug off the impression that he was squatting in the position rather than owning it. He could not have predicted he would lose it to a 35-year-old who has toiled for even longer than him. Whether that impacts you negatively or positively, you know where you stand, you know what you have to do even if it's not what you want to hear," he said. Australian selectors were hailed for their decisiveness in making the Rogers decision a week out from the first Test. The 35-year-old's ""'lack of international experience is countered by his wealth of experience in England, against Englishbowlers, facing an English ball, and he is set to be thrust into an unofficial leadership role among the batsmen when the series starts next Wednesday at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.