SYDNEY // The in-form newcomer Ed Cowan said Wednesday he will be fully prepared if Shaun Marsh fails to make Australia's first Test against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next week.
Cowan was one of three additions to a 13-man Australian squad announced for the Boxing Day match with India after the batsmen Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja were dumped.
Marsh has played only three Tests and is suffering from back trouble from the recent South Africa tour and is fighting to take his place in the first of four Tests.
The selectors named Marsh, Cowan and Ben Hilfenhaus, along with all-rounder Dan Christian, in their extended squad, but there was no place for the injured allrounder Shane Watson and fast bowler Ryan Harris.
John Inverarity, the chief selector, said the size of the squad was due to the continuing uncertainty about the fitness of Marsh.
Cowan wants to be as well-prepared as possible should the call come to make his Test debut at the age of 29. He presented undeniable selection claims after his fourth century in his past four games.
"You would be silly to prepare expecting not to play," Cowan said in Canberra after the Chairman's XI's drawn match with India.
"I've got no idea how Shaun's back is. I'll assume Shaun will be fit and then it's down to the balance of the side. I'm excited to be a part of the team and hopefully I'll get my chance on Boxing Day to continue a decent run of form."
Cowan hit 109 for the Chairman's XI against India along with two centuries in this season's domestic Sheffield Shield and one for Australia A against the touring New Zealanders. But Cowan stressed that his selection in the Test squad was not purely on the strength of this season's prolific form.
"I've got nine first-class hundreds in the last two-and-a-half years so it's not four hundreds in four weeks and suddenly you're in the Test team," he said. "It's two-and-a-half years of trying to dominate state cricket and I've hit some form at the right time."
Hughes paid for his suspect technique outside offstump, habitually caught in the slips for low scores in the four innings against New Zealand recently.
Khawaja failed to build on starts to his innings and failed to get beyond 38 in his three knocks against the Black Caps. Inverarity said Hughes and Khawaja both needed to produce "compelling performances" to be considered for future Test selection.
Inverarity said Watson and Harris were not considered ready to face India.
"Shane Watson was not considered for selection, as he has not recovered sufficiently, and Ryan Harris has not yet achieved the volume of bowling required to be available for consideration for Test selection," Inverarity said.
Regardless of their selections, Pakistan's allrounder Abdul Razzaq said that with Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath having retired, and Brett Lee no longer playing Test cricket, Australia lack a world-class bowler and will struggle to beat India.
"India are aiming to be the world champions, and they will give a tough time to Australia," Razzaq said.
* Agencies
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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9.
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Saudi Arabia
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10.
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South Korea
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Schedule:
Pakistan v Sri Lanka:
28 Sep-2 Oct, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
6-10 Oct, 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai
13 Oct, 1st ODI, Dubai
16 Oct, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
18 Oct, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
20 Oct, 4th ODI, Sharjah
23 Oct, 5th ODI, Sharjah
26 Oct, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
27 Oct, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
29 Oct, 3rd T20I, Lahore
