Australian Ed Cowan will be the overseas player for the Lloyds TSB Scottish Saltires during the 2008 Friends Provident Trophy campaign. Cricket Scotland stepped in to sign him up for the eight-match series after Uddingston Cricket Club had engaged him as their professional player for the season.

The 25-year-old left-handed opening batsman from Sydney made his first-class debut in 2003. After four years with the New South Wales University side, he has now established himself in the senior state squad. Cowan has an average of over 30 in both forms of the game and has scored both first class and one day hundreds for NSW.

Cowan was playing for Oxford University UCCE against Zimbabwe when he made his maiden first-class century. Earlier, having represented Cranbrook School’s first team from the age of 14, he scored 218* for the New South Wales team in the Australian U17 national championship. And he was a member of Australia’s U19 World Cup squad in 2000.

The Saltires’ Australian head coach Peter Steindl welcomed Cowan’s agreement to play for the Scots in their fifth year in England’s national one-day league. "His pedigree is very good, and we hope he will give the kind of solidity and impetus at the top of our order which will be vital to our cause."

Roddy Smith, Cricket Scotland's chief executive, added: "We identified the need to have a top order batsman for our group stages of the FPT. Ed Cowan meets that criterion we set and we are all looking forward to him joining the Saltires. It is also important that our overseas player is integrated into the game in Scotland with one of our member clubs, and we are grateful to Uddingston for their support in allowing Ed to play for the Saltires.

The Friends Provident Trophy campaign starts for the Scottish Saltires on Sunday April 27 with a home game at Citylets Grange against Lancashire Lightning, and finishes on Wednesday May 28 with the first of these matches to be played at Citylets Titwood, against Derbyshire Scorpions.

Tickets for these matches are priced at £15 (adult) or £10 (concessions for students and pensioners) or £7.50 (children under 18 on April 1). They can be purchased online from the Friends Provident Trophy website, www.thenorthlovescricket.com