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He's built his Test career on patience and discipline but Ed Cowan knows the time is now to start delivering big scores for Australia.
Ed Cowan has built his Test career so far on his patience at the crease but the Tasmanian knows the patience of selectors might be starting to wear thin.
In six Tests, Cowan has managed 302 runs, passing 50 twice in that time, and averages 30.20.
It's a career that compares in many ways with discarded NSW left-hander Usman Khawaja, who has also played six Tests and averages 29.22 with a highest score of 65.
Shaun Marsh too has played seven Tests, scoring 301 runs with an average of 27.36.
What should worry Cowan is those two players with similar records are both outside the Test set-up after being dropped.
Scores of 14, 34, 28 and 20 in his four innings on the tour of the Caribbean have continued Cowan's run of making starts without yet going on to complete a big Test innings.
And it's a problem the 29-year-old is more than aware of.
"It's frustrating, to state the obvious," Cowan told reporters.
"It's something I've prided myself on in first-class cricket. If I get a start, I tend to go on with it. If I get to 30, I get a hundred so it's been very frustrating. On the flip side, it feels that it's nice to know you can consistently get in.
"I don't feel like I'm going out there as a walking wicket and that I'm going to get knocked over. So that's good. I feel like I'm not only good enough to be playing at this level but contributing.
"I'm probably more frustrated about getting in and then getting out than anything else. I feel like my game is in good order.
"There's a big difference between being out of runs and out of form and I feel a little bit out of runs."
Cowan, though, denies he's developing a complex about his inability to kick on after making a start.
"There are times when batsmen do bat with a cluttered mind and you can be a sitting duck when that happens," he said.
"I don't feel that at the moment.
"I'm not getting to 20 and thinking 'geez I'm 20 again - I need to go on with this - I'm in'. I think when you start doing that, you're not treating every ball with a clear mind. You get yourself into trouble."
Australia are confident they can still force a win in the rain-marred second Test in Trinidad.
Only 31 overs could be bowled on day four as a heavy thunderstorm swept over Queen's Park Oval, with Australia 3-73 and holding a 127-run lead in the second innings.
