Should Watson come back into the Test side?
Roar Pro By aggregated drupe, 30 Jan 2013 aggregated drupe is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Cricket, Shane Watson, Test cricket
With the squad for India about to be picked, one of the biggest questions is should Shane Watson come back into the Test team? Obviously there are two answers to this question.
First, the reasons he should come in:
Foremost, he is an experienced Test opener, averaging 43 in the position. He also averages 44 at first class level. He has won the Allan Border medal twice and is an established figure in the Australian camp.
Furthermore, if Watson came back in he would replace Ed Cowan, the worst player in the Australian team. Watson averages more than Cowan at first class and Test level, with Cowan averaging less than 40 at first class level, which shouldn’t get you a Test spot.
Finally, he is a good slips fielder. With both Mike Hussey and Ricky Ponting coming out of the slips/gully cordon, we need new people to replace them there. Phil Hughes has settled into Ponting’s position but we need another slip/gully to come in. Nathan Lyon has been tried there but Watson would be a much better fit.
As to the reasons he shouldn’t come in?
He doesn’t make big scores, often freezing up in the 90s and getting out. Watson has passed his half century 21 times but has only made two centuries – 120 and 126.
There’s a possibility he should be a limited overs specialist. Watson is a very powerful player, once hitting 185 not out off 96 balls, including 15 fours and 15 sixes. In the Twenty20 World Cup he got four man of the match awards in six games. He could concentrate on limited overs cricket and try to improve even more.
Perhaps most importantly, he gets injured too much, leading to an unsettled team. He has given up bowling now but that doesn’t guarantee he won’t be injured.
Having assessed both answers, Watson should come back in for Ed Cowan.
Over to you Roarers.
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- Explore:
- Cricket, Shane Watson, Test cricket
January 30th 2013 @ 7:11am
Johnno said | January 30th 2013 @ 7:11am | Report comment
Yes.
January 30th 2013 @ 7:51am
Red Kev said | January 30th 2013 @ 7:51am | Report comment
You missed one important point – he will fly home and miss the third and fourth tests.
Leave Watson at home and let him build form and confidence away from the cameras in the remaning Shield and Ryobi Cup games. Keep Cowan in the side for India and let him duke it out with (hopefully) Khawaja and Burns or (more likely) Doolan and Maxwell for a permanent spot in the side.
Bring Watson back for the limited overs matches in the UK and the Ashes, unless he fails spectacularly in the domestic competition.
January 30th 2013 @ 9:44am
jameswm said | January 30th 2013 @ 9:44am | Report comment
I would have said yes, but the fact he will miss the 3rd and 4th tests makes it different. I’m 50/50 on that.
January 30th 2013 @ 10:21am
Disco said | January 30th 2013 @ 10:21am | Report comment
If it was likely Watson would be competing for a spot with Cowan, then I’d say take the former as I’d expect him to outscore Eddie. However, I’d rather not see the overrated Watson play in two Tests alongside Cowan at the expense of one of the younger middle-order players.
January 30th 2013 @ 11:50am
Lancey5times said | January 30th 2013 @ 11:50am | Report comment
It will be Cowan or Watson. Not both. The selectors have always wanted him at the top of the order but the bowling load has stopped them. Not anymore, although I do think he will still bowl a few overs
January 30th 2013 @ 11:50am
Lancey5times said | January 30th 2013 @ 11:50am | Report comment
It will be Cowan or Watson. Not both. The selectors have always wanted him at the top of the order but the bowling load has stopped them. Not anymore, although I do think he will still bowl a few overs
January 30th 2013 @ 12:02pm
Red Kev said | January 30th 2013 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
I think you’re probably right, Watto will be reinstated as an opener sooner or later. The fact is that 5-10 overs combined in a full day of test match cricket out of Watson, Warner and Clarke (and maybe even Khawaja) is plenty to supplement a full-strength 4-man bowling attack.
January 30th 2013 @ 4:26pm
Rob Barrow said | January 30th 2013 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
Red Kev i love your analysis mate but disagree on the replacements, Khawaja was selected as stand in batsman for the last 2 tests, all indications from the selectors is that he will be picked so i see him either taking the number 6 spot or filling in for Watto when he flies back, either way it will happen for Khawaja.
January 30th 2013 @ 11:01am
mick the clown said | January 30th 2013 @ 11:01am | Report comment
I think No.
His consistency in getting out before 100 is down to his inability to play against quality spin bowling. – It ties him up, and bogs him down. He is best when the ball is new and coming quick.
If he is not playing at opener then he should not be in the team as he will be destined for failure. Second drop is almost guaranteed to be a disaster (but we do need to shield Clarke from the new ball and fresh bowlers)
January 30th 2013 @ 11:30am
jameswm said | January 30th 2013 @ 11:30am | Report comment
No we don’t need to shield him. Put a patsy in at 4 and Clarke’s coming in just as early as he was, it’s just that we’re in more troble at 3-for than 2-for. Look what happened constantly against SA.
Clarke as our premier bat and captain must bat at 4. 5 is too low. If we’re struggling, he’ll come in at 3 for 50 instead of 2 rfor 40. If we’re going well, it doesn’t matter than much anyway.
We need him at 4 to save us from strife at 2-for instead of 3-for.
January 30th 2013 @ 11:06am
TheGenuineTailender said | January 30th 2013 @ 11:06am | Report comment
Come the Ashes, yes. For India, no. Cowan will surely fail miserably in India, further convincing the selectors that he’s a donkey and then we’ll finally have seen the end of Eddie. Then we can pick some proper cricketers, ie Watson.
January 30th 2013 @ 4:28pm
Rob Barrow said | January 30th 2013 @ 4:28pm | Report comment
Agreed 100%,ifowan plays in India he wil fail an tha ay he won’t be there for the ashes,Watto canonly play as opener and he is better then Cowan so its simple. Guys such as Khawaja and Burns desere to play test cricket much more then Cowan
January 30th 2013 @ 1:38pm
Timmuh said | January 30th 2013 @ 1:38pm | Report comment
If Watson was to open, what happens in the middle order. It would be papering over a crack in order to leave a hole.
There is also thr simple possibility that Watson averaged more as an opener simply because he was playing better cricket at the time, and it had nothing to do with the position. His form has been such that without his bowling he, like Cowan, has top be under a lot of pressure to retain a place. As a batsman, he hasn’t been doing his job either. Neither would play if there was any in form batting in this country.
I would have him in the side, basically by default, and Cowan as well. Warner (safe for now), Cowan (obviously under pressure), Hughes (safe for now), Clarke (the only one in the top seven who can book their England flights), Watson (safe for now, but coming under pressure if he doesn’t bowl), Khawaja (probably not ideal for India, but the best of the options who are actually performing).
January 30th 2013 @ 3:18pm
sittingbison said | January 30th 2013 @ 3:18pm | Report comment
its too simplistic to say Watson averages 43 as an opener.
The bulk of his runs came in 2009 and 2010 after he was promoted with the demise of Hughes, which will be 3 years ago come the Ashes. The sad truth is since the 2010 Boxing Day Test he has only played some 12 tests, for zero hundreds, average about 24. He played the 2011 season as opener, again averaging only 24. The 84 he got in Melb was laborious, agricultural, he again got out playing a brainless hoick and it was immediately after Clarkes dismissal so we had two fresh batsmen on nothing.
He has always had a technical fault of plonking the front pad straight down the wicket disregarding line and length of the ball, leading to a preponderance of bowled and LBW decisions. To show he has no idea, he always uses the referral, invariably a waste as it hits half way up middle.
He also has a mental failing, invariably getting out after a start. This is almost always immediately before or after a break in play, he lacks serious concentration.
Shane Watson should be playing shield cricket getting some form in the longer game before playing Test matches again.
January 30th 2013 @ 3:29pm
boes said | January 30th 2013 @ 3:29pm | Report comment
“The sad truth is since the 2010 Boxing Day Test he has only played some 12 tests, for zero hundreds, average about 24.”
That pretty much says enough for me – he needs to earn his way back into the side and at score some runs in any form of cricket he plays. A ‘silky’ 30 in a club game is not enough.
He does not deserve a free pass to the batting position of his choice. If he can show some form then fair enough.
January 30th 2013 @ 5:26pm
B.A Sports said | January 30th 2013 @ 5:26pm | Report comment
“The bulk of his runs came in 2009 and 2010 after he was promoted with the demise of Hughes…”
Yep and it was against quite possibly the worst West Indian attack ever to leave the multiple shores of the Carribean (Rampaul opening the bowling – seriously!) followed by a series against Pakistan where we have since learnt the Pakistani’s were deliberately trying to lose matches!
January 30th 2013 @ 4:02pm
Gordon smith said | January 30th 2013 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
Watson needs to stop telling everyone who should be picked. This morning he went into bat for henriques saying he should be selected.
He is constantly telling everyone where he should bat and who else should play. I would like to know what he thinks makes him so important to have his opinion heard all the time.
When he supports one player publicly he is telling another he is not wanted and that is what he has told Cowan with his declaration that he wants to open.
A touch of self importance and putting himself first.
January 30th 2013 @ 5:33pm
jameswm said | January 30th 2013 @ 5:33pm | Report comment
He’s the test vice captain. That might have something to do with it.
January 30th 2013 @ 4:24pm
Rob Barrow said | January 30th 2013 @ 4:24pm | Report comment
If you where going to select Watson I would axe Cowan and have Khawaja at 6. Cowan is one of those players who would only have himself to blame if he gets axed. An average of 30 after 10 test is not good eough.
January 30th 2013 @ 5:34pm
jameswm said | January 30th 2013 @ 5:34pm | Report comment
Who bats at 4 then Rob, or at 5 if Clarke bats 4?
January 30th 2013 @ 5:37pm
john said | January 30th 2013 @ 5:37pm | Report comment
Guys stop bagging Ed Cowan
He is nowhere near the worst player to have played for Australia despite the fact he is nowhere near the best.
He has only played a handful of test matches, 2 less than David Warner and though he hasn’t had the numbers to back up his potential, he is capable of being a successful opener.
Remember Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer? our most successful openers didn’t start their careers that brilliantly either (though Langer was originally a no.3/4 batsman). But Matthew Hayden didn’t score his first hundred for Australia till 1997, 4 years after his debut and he averaged only 17 in his first 7 and a half years as an opener. It wasn’t until the Indian series in 2001 where he really stamped his potentials and cemented his spot.
Simon Katich who was an opener for us during 2008-2010 only averaged low 30s in his first 6 years in the Australian side. He then had a terrific series against the Windies in 2008 and India. The series in Indian will give Cowan a real chance to cement his spot for the Ashes,maybe do something similar to what Hayden did in 2001, obviously he won’t score 500 runs in the series but a couple of hundreds will do.
But i do agree with others that if he underpeforms in India then he shall be dropped. I dont think he should be dropped from the side altogether, but i’d give him a go in the middle order, have Watson back at the opening position immediately.
But everyone stop being so harsh to Ed, he is finding his place in the Australia side and will do very soon. He is the perfect partner for Warner, the defensive working the ball around opener to Warner’s attack and hit through the line style.
January 30th 2013 @ 6:55pm
Red Kev said | January 30th 2013 @ 6:55pm | Report comment
Cowan has had 13 tests in a row. That is a lot of time to waste on a player that isn’t very good (30 years old, 8 odd years of cricket and still averaging in the 30s).
Giving decent players like Khawaja 13 tests in a row would be far more beneficial to Australian cricket.
January 30th 2013 @ 9:43pm
john said | January 30th 2013 @ 9:43pm | Report comment
mate just give him more of a chance
Australia do not want another forgotten cricketer who has played a handful of tests, showed some promise then gets dropped and never plays again. e.g phil jacques and brad hodge. sure they both averaged 45-50 in the games they played but lay the heat off cowan and give him another chance, india is a great opportunity and is a place where big scores can be made.
January 30th 2013 @ 10:48pm
Red Kev said | January 30th 2013 @ 10:48pm | Report comment
Cowan doesn’t deserve more of a chance. The difference was Hodge’s and Jacques’ first class averages were well over 40.
Bailey, Quiney, S.Marsh, Cowan, Ferguson, Doolan … first-class averages below 40 do not belong in test cricket.
January 30th 2013 @ 7:14pm
Red Kev said | January 30th 2013 @ 7:14pm | Report comment
Watson is fine form. 6 off 23 opening for NSW in the Ryobi Cup. I wonder how Inverarity will justify selecting him?
January 31st 2013 @ 4:19pm
sittingbison said | January 31st 2013 @ 4:19pm | Report comment
it was a silky six