- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The lilo’s finally drifted into the shore for cricket’s premier beach bum, Shane Watson, who has just notched the fifth highest ever ODI score by an Aussie to beat England single-handedly at the MCG.
His thundering 161 n.o. means he is no longer a man stuck in the fifties, but a player that can look forward to the World Cup knowing he can be a sizzling highlight in a tournament that may desperately require livening up, given its soporifically turgid schedule.
Moreover, this innings coupled with the magnanimity and honesty he displayed in Ashes defeat mean that those who’ve designated him “Twatto” might have to go back to the moniker drawing board.
Despite the poor end to their innings, England’s 294 looked a decent total on a pitch where anything short didn’t quite sit up and their bowlers managed to find a bit of reverse swing.
Watson, however, anchored the innings with an authority that laid his half-ton hoodoo to rest and reduced England to a shambles at times in the field. It was nowhere near Tufnell standards, but it was the first time this tour England have looked ragged, and those who suggest the dropped Collingwood brings an unquantifiable discipline to the side will take succour from this slipshod showing.
That said, there’s little that could have been done to stop Watson. Although the chunky Queenslander hit 124 of his runs on the onside, it was always more haute couture than hoicking, with his slog-swept sixes to cow corner taking on a sort of supine grace.
Even when he was beset with cramp mid-innings, he still looked more fluent than his batting partners, the most lactic acid-infused of which was again Michael Clarke, who was booed at times during his molasses 36 off 57 balls. The troubled Aussie skipper did at least manage one four, but this was a result of two comical overthrows in one ball, the latter of which saw Strauss scrabbling around between his legs like a puppy chasing its tail.
This faffing, scratching and fumbling from both sides only served to emphasise the standalone quality of Watson’s innings, and it was fitting that he hit the winning runs with a clinically crisp driven straight six to long on.
There’s no need to puff up the quality of this knock, but if anyone ever had a reason to be distracted on a cricket pitch it would be the Aussie opener at the moment. He hails from Ipswich, the Queensland town which has been devastated more than most by the rapacious floods that have hit the state, and has friends and family caught up in the tragedy.
At the risk of mawkishness it’s fair to say that, for someone once derided as “soft” by Windies captain Chris Gayle, Shane Watson has today shown that he, and his match-winning Gunn & Moore, have an extremely hard centre.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.