Chief selector George Bailey has defended the decision to throw Nathan McSweeney in as a Test opener against India next week after former Test batsmen Ed Cowan claimed that his elevation up the order was guessing he would succeed.

McSweeney, who has never opened the batting in the Sheffield Shield, will partner Usman Khawaja at the top of the order at Perth Stadium in the series opener despite a mediocre return when coming to the crease early in a team’s innings.

There have been eight occasions in first-class cricket where McSweeney, who is usually listed at No.3 or No.4 for South Australia, has batted inside the first three overs of an innings. He has produced scores 22, 0, 12, 20, 0, 67, 14 and 25 – the last two were as an opener for Australia A last week – for a return of 160 runs at an average of 20.

Speaking on the ABC’s Grandstand Cricket Podcast, Cowan highlighted McSweeney’s inability to make runs when early wickets had fallen, and questioned whether the selection panel – comprising Bailey, Andrew McDonald and Tony Dodemaide – had done their research.

“I feel slight vindication in many respects [by] suggesting that he is not an opening batter,” said Cowan, who made 68 on Test debut against India in 2011.

“The data would suggest that at the moment in his career, he doesn’t have the technique nor the temperament to do it.

“You know what a selection, when the data doesn’t support your point of view, is? It’s a guess. Guesses sometimes pay off but that’s called luck, and if they don’t, they actually dilute the players’ confidence [across the country] … as to what it takes to get selected.”

Bailey was asked by SEN Radio’s Gerard Whateley whether the selection of McSweeney as an opener was indeed a guess.