[3][4] Born at Enfield in Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, Cowans moved to England with his family when he was just seven years old.
Cowans played the game of his life at the MCG in 1982, where he took a match-winning 6 for 77,[7] following his first innings 2 for 69 (which included the first-ball scalp of Greg Chappell), in England's dramatic three-run victory.
[9] England lost this series, but the following winter Cowans was on the winning side, and he played in every test as David Gower's team surprised India.
This was Cowans' most lucrative series, and he took 14 wickets,[10] including two at the start of India's second innings in the Delhi Test, a result that at the time "ended England's longest-ever spell without a victory".
He was however part of a successful Middlesex team, bowling alongside Wayne Daniel, Simon Hughes, Neil Williams, and, eventually Angus Fraser.
A highlight of his county career came in 1983 when he claimed 4 for 33, and won the man of the match award, in the semi-final of the Benson and Hedges Cup.