Shane Robert Watson (born 17
June 1981 in Ipswich,
Queensland
) is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a
right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly comes as an opener in
international cricket, although he does not do so
domestically.
He debuted for the
Australian
cricket team in 2002, playing his first one-day international
against South Africa.
While he has become a regular member of the
one-day squad, Watson has played few Test Matches for Australia,
having debuted against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket
Ground
in January 2005. Despite being allocated to
be Australia's designated Test all-rounder, injuries have prevented
him from claiming his position in the Test team.
Playing career
Early career
Watson
started his first-class
cricketing career for Tasmanian
Tigers after leaving his home state of Queensland
, but returned to play for his native Queensland Bulls as his international
career was beginning. He has also played for
Hampshire in the English
County Championship. He regards
Terry Alderman as one of his
mentors.
International career
Watson was selected for his first Australian team in early 2002,
being selected to tour South Africa with the Test team after
topping the
Pura Cup wicket-taking charts
for Tasmania, as well as steady middle-order batting performances.
Australian captain at the time
Steve
Waugh stated that Watson would possibly be Australia's first
genuine
all rounder since
Keith Miller and
Alan Davidson in the 1950s. Watson
expressed joy at being selected in an Australian team with Waugh,
whom he cited as his idol. Watson scored an unbeaten century on his
debut in a tour match, but did not play in the Tests as the
selectors retained the same XI that had swept South Africa 3–0 in
the Australian season. Watson did make his ODI debut on tour,
ironically replacing Waugh, who was sacked after the team failed to
make the ODI finals in the preceding Australian summer. Watson
continued as a regular member of the ODI team until he three stress
fractures in his back, at the start of 2003, missing the
2003 Cricket World Cup. He was
replaced by his Queensland teammate
Andrew Symonds, who proceeded to establish
his position as the all rounder after scoring 143* and 91* during
the tournament.
Watson's injury sidelined him until the 2003–04 Australian season,
and during his rehabilitation he played most of the season as a
batsman, allowing himself to improve his batting skills while his
back was still healing. During this time he smashed an unbeaten
300* for his club side,
Lindisfarne.
Watson returned to regular ODI duty in the 2004–05 season, as a
bowling all rounder.
He also played in the Third Test against
Pakistan as the fifth bowler,
in order to allow Australia to play two spinners and three pace
bowlers on a dry Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.
Following
England's Ashes
victory over Australia in 2005 with a five bowler strategy,
Australia responded by including Watson as the fifth bowler and all
rounder in all Test matches. Watson stated his intention to emulate
Andrew Flintoff, who played the
analogous role for England. Watson played against the
ICC World XI in the role, but he dislocated his
shoulder in just his second Test in that designated role against
the
West Indies, after
diving to field a ball. Watson was again replaced by Symonds and
was unable to represent Australia for the remainder of the
summer.
He was recalled for the one day squad for the 2006 tour of South
Africa but was dropped when all-rounder
Andrew Symonds returned from injury. Watson
was looking to establish a place in the Test side when he got
injured, and Andrew Symonds stepped in to fill the gap.
Watson had been previously criticised for his relatively flat
bowling trajectory and inability to move the ball, reflected in his
relatively high bowling average.
Jamie
Cox, a former Tasmanian team-mate and future Australian
selector, felt that Watson was being mis-used as a bowling
allrounder, believing that he was better suited as a conventional
batsman and part-timer bowler, rather than a bowler who engaged in
power hitting in the latter part of an innings.
This changed when Watson opened the batting for Australia at the
2006 ICC Champions Trophy,
alongside wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist, instead of
Simon Katich. In the competition he impressed
with both the ball and bat, as Australia moved to their first
Champions Trophy victory. Critics and captain
Ricky Ponting cited his better strike rate,
straight hitting and the ability to bowl as the reasons why he was
selected ahead of Katich. After failing in the first two matches
against the West Indies and England, Watson made a 50 in
Australia's victory over India, which sealed their place in the
semi-finals, and in the 2009 Champions Trophy was held in South
Africa, Watson again played a prominent role, making two
consecutive 100s against England and New-Zealand in semi-final and
final, helping Australia to defend their title.
Ponting suggested that Watson would bat at the number 6 position in
the Ashes series against England in 2006–07, and he was named in
the squad. However, he came off the ground in a one-day domestic
game the week before the first Test with a suspected hamstring
tear, which ruled him out for the first three Tests.
Michael Clarke was called up in
Watson's place, and responded with a half-century, and then a
century to cement Clarke's place in the team.
Watson was
expected to be fit for the fourth Test on Boxing Day and the
MCG
in
Melbourne, and because of Damien
Martyn's unexpected retirement, it looked likely that Watson
would be included in the side. However, another injury
setback in a match for Queensland ruled Watson out for the rest of
the Ashes series. Watson eventually returned in February to the ODI
side, replacing
Cameron White in the
all rounder position, However he again broke down with injury
during the
2007 Cricket World
Cup and missed most of the Super 8's before returning in fine
style smashing an unbeaten 65 off 32 balls against New Zealand.
Injury again struck Watson prior to the
2007 ICC World Twenty20 as he missed
most of the tournament due to
hamstring
strain.
He returned to the Australian Test side for the 3rd Ashes Test
match at Edgbaston on 30 July 2009 when he replaced opener
Philip Hughes who had been struggling for
form. In a rain interrupted match he made 62 and 53 batting
alongside
Simon Katich.
Indian Premier League
Watson played in the
Indian
Premier League for the
Rajasthan
Royals team. Signed up for US $125000, he performed well with
both the bat and the ball scoring four half-centuries to anchor his
team to victory in three matches of the tournament and in the
semifinals. He also picked up 17 wickets, won four man of the match
awards in his first twelve games and also won the Man of the Series
award.
On the back of his IPL performance, Watson was subsequently
selected to replace
Matthew Hayden in
the one day series as part of
Australia's
tour to the West Indies.
References
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