Chennai: Though Australia were dismissed for a paltry 241 on the first day of their warm-up game against Board President XI on Tuesday with Parvez Rasool wreaking havoc with his spin, Australian opener Ed Cowan feels that it indeed has done a lot of good to the visitors ahead of the upcoming Test series.

"At the end of the day we need to practice against the tuning ball before the series starts. So it was fantastic that the wicket did turn,” said Cowan, stating that it was almost as though the most dangerous shot was the forward defence. “You had to find a way to get to the other end and get in a position to score runs," said Cowan, who scored 58.

"If you're propped on the crease defending, then you're playing into the spinners' hands. I think the guys who scored runs found a way to actually hit the ball, rather than just defend. They were trying to put pressure on the bowlers. The guys would probably evaluate that their shots were on but the execution probably wasn't as pure as they'd have liked,” said Cowan, who was in all praise for young Parvez Rasool.

"He bowled with good control and got some good turn. Anyone who can take seven wickets can obviously ball. He held it up nicely, he was excellent,” said Cowan, who is fighting for the opener’s slot in the Australian team.

Cowan added that the ball started to reverse as early as the 12th over and cautioned the BPXI.

“Our guys know how to reverse the ball at good pace. The faster you bowl, the harder it is to play the reverse swing. I think that’ll play a part on Wednesday,” he added.

By ISN