Defending champions Excelsior ’20 Schiedam have announced the appointment of 27-year-old Tasmania opening batsman Ed Cowan as their coach for 2010, succeeding Mark Cleary.

Cleary will be a tough act to follow, having been the outstanding allrounder in the Dutch competition for four seasons, but the left-hander Cowan undoubtedly has the class to do so. A former Australian Under-19 representative, he moved from his native New South Wales to the island state at the start of this season, and he has been enjoying huge success.

He has currently made 867 first-class runs at an average of 61.92, bringing his career aggregate to 2172 at 38.78. The highest of his three centuries so far this season was a career-best 225 against South Australia in November. His performances in one-day matches have been more modest, but he has hit two half-centuries in his ten matches for Tasmania in this form of the game.

Cowan is no stranger to European conditions: he studied at Oxford Brookes University in 2003, appearing in three matches for the Oxford Centre of Cricketing Excellence, and in 2008 he had a season with Uddingston in the Scottish National League, also playing in seven games for the national side as their overseas player in the Friends Provident Trophy.

An occasional leg-spinner, he may find that he is called upon to exercise that skill as well as anchoring the Excelsior batting line-up as the club sets out to defend their dual titles as national champions and winners of the Twenty20 Cup.

He will join the squad in mid-April shortly before they leave to take part in an international Twenty20 tournament at La Manga.

Excelsior have also joined the ranks of the clubs which have appointed an overseas youth coach to concentrate on the development of their juniors, following in the footsteps of Rood en Wit Haarlem VOC Rotterdam and HBS Den Haag.

He is 36-year-old South African David Sandman, who works in Cape Town with ACC player-coach Ryan Maron. He will join Excelsior’s international Daan van Bunge and Cowan on the Schiedam club’s coaching staff.