The Old Trafford Test could (possibly should) be Shane Watson’s last Test match, unless he proves all his doubters wrong and scores a century.
A couple of attractive 40’s or even a 50 or 60 will not save him. As Bill Lawry might say ‘he’s gone’.
The case against Shane Watson is compelling; the argument ‘for’ less so.
For all his classy looks, useful bowling and far superior ODI and T20 record, the simple fact is he has not achieved at the Test level in the last three years and should be put out of his misery and relegated to a short format career, both at home and abroad.
Of course we all know how good he can be but the stats don’t lie and his form with the bat in Test cricket is simply woeful for a top six batsman.
Agreed, Watson has been mucked around in terms of where he sits in the order and unsettled by the murky waters of his relationship with Michael Clarke, but that aside, he has underachieved and the evidence suggests he will continue to do so.
Watson is a batsman that has peaked, aged 32 prone to injury and in simple terms his best days are behind him. The best we saw of Watson was in 2009 and 2010.
An excellent couple of seasons, where he amassed 1559 runs at the excellent average of 50.29, scoring 13 50’s and his only two Test hundreds. Since then it has all been downhill.
His respective averages for the last three years have been 24.09 (2011), 31.45 (2012), 20.80 (2013). In this time he has been to the crease on the 32 occasions for the measly return of just four half centuries. Not good reading.
In the face of this evidence, there has been the continued belief ‘that he will come good’ and that his class will see him through, and who’s to say that we don’t get to see the best of Watson at Old Trafford.
No doubt he will blaze the ball through the covers and his believers will believe ‘this is his day’. He is due after all.
But this is a Test batsman who last scored a Test century in October 2010, probably lacks the goodwill of his captain, has developed a technical flaw of playing around his body and lets his ego get in the way when using the DRS.
‘The ides of August are upon him’ and no runs here and he’s gone.
If not now it will only be a matter of time.
Pete
Guest
Re: BrothersWaugh, Usman K has also played against Sri Lanka (ave 30) and NZ (ave 22) - not all top 4 sides. Must admit he got an absolutely shocking umpiring decision though
Tim
Guest
Sadly, 6/180 would be an improvement ! We have been 6-113, 6-164, 6-91 and 6-136 so far this series ! No argument that Watson needs to do better and that he is falling into a bowling trap and needs to fix his technique - but at least his problem seems fixable IF he can concentrate and apply himself. By why is Watson under more scruitiny than the others who have scored fewer runs? The bowling plan for Hughes is as simple as "bring on Swann." Given that they are deliberately preparing spinning pitches, how does a left hander with bad footwork who struggles against spin fix his technique? No point talking about how good Hughes's first class record is on non spinning pitches if that is not what he is going to be facing this series. Smith as a specialist batsman and good player of spin with an average of less than 20 this series? Those two batsmen contributed a combined total of 3 runs in the first innings at Lords and 2 runs in the second dig. Sure Watson's 50 runs was a failure, but those two were complete and utter failures with the bat - and they are the best of the new guard? In fairness, Smith (like Watson) did contribute with the ball, so his match contribution was much better than Hughes. But with the continued batting failures of the new guard, it is no wonder that Boof is in no hurry to drop Watson and prefers to work on getting more out of him....
Chris
Guest
England are setting him up, pitching it up and dragging him outside off stump for the drive, then angling one in and getting him to play around his pad. It's not just one ball that does it.
marty
Guest
I remember his first test innings hit 20 in stunning fashion then threw away his wicket he has always looked very good but it seems as though he gets bored or something
Sydney Kiwi
Guest
Hes good for the remainder of the English leg, for his bowling, I see him getting replaced at the top of the order if he fails the same way again, and it will be Warner. Once home though the other bats will be far more comfortable in Aussie conditions and he should be gone...unless he comes right. And by right I don't just mean a 100 but consistantly bat through a session to take the freaking pressure off the others, THATS his job whether he does it in 4s 1s or 0s.
Hookin' YT
Guest
They love Watson sticking that pad down the wicket looking to drive. Giving him some driven 4s is the price, until the inswinger... ;) If I was captain and had Australia 6/180 I'd be happy. Australia's test averages this tour: Watson 27.25; Rogers 22.25; Khawaja 34.00; Hughes 27.67; Clarke 25.5; Smith 18.25. Total 6/155 If Cook gives Watson 27 before his LBW. Job done.
TheBrothersWaugh
Guest
Ahh, the enigma that is Shane Watson. Look at what the article shows. He’s only had two good years at test level, and the last three have been nothing short of deplorable. I don’t expect the recent trend to change. To me, he’s the utter personification of squandered talent, and people continue to hail his potential and ability rather than concentrating on the actual returns he provides. He still can’t quite work out the correlation between bat and pad after 78 or 79 innings at test level, and he still has his defenders? Ten years ago, he would not even have ranked worth mentioning. Over-hyped, over indulged, and definitely overpaid. A typical example of the modern day Australian cricketer. The mere fact we’re having this debate about Watson is proof positive that OZ cricket is in a state of total disarray and we will continue to get pounded by the opposition in upcoming test matches. Time to relegate him to ODI’s and T20 and show some faith in the younger guys coming through. I’m sure at least a few of them are capable of averaging mid 30’s and scoring a couple of centuries if they’re given the opportunity to play for 3 solid years. Khawajs has an average of 30.09 after 13 innings, no 100’s and two 50’s, but he has played SA (away), IND (home), and now ENG (away), so the opposition have all been top 4 ranked sides. Steve Smith has an average of 29.00 after 18 innings, with no 100’s and four 50’s. Give these guys anywhere near the same level of support and opportunity as they’ve gifted Watson, and I’m sure they will at least perform as well as him – but I reckon they’ll both out-perform him. There are no easy fixes to the test side at this time, we are going to struggle for the nest 2 years or so, and only our bowling stocks will provide some much needed succour. Trust in the younger fellas and start to rebuild domestic batting stocks at home over a period of at least 3-5 years, but don’t forget the bowling.
Stu
Guest
+1
Craig2
Guest
Agree 100% - well argued Tim
Tim
Guest
Boof understands how multiday cricket works and he still backs Watson to the hilt. Yes the English bowling plans are working against every batsman at the moment, including Watson. But if their approach truly is to buy his wicket (whereas their plans seem to work against the other batsmen without having to concede any runs) , then it is still a risky plan from their point of view - because by the time they are ready to strike with an LBW, Watson already has some runs on the board and a bit of a start. That means that if he can fix his technical flaw and be more watchful against the in-swinger, then he can take 30 free runs as a platform to launch a decent score. Fingers crossed he finally manages to do this very soon...
Hookin' YT
Guest
I'm 48yo. If CA ever consider "No Show" Maxwell. I'm back on the training paddock and hitting the nets.
Hookin' YT
Guest
Well said James P. You obviously undertand how multi day cricket works. If you can BUY your top 6 at 30 runs a pop its a steal.
Tim
Guest
You may be right that the poms are buying his wicket - but so what? The cost of buying Watson's wicket is still more than the cost of buying the wicket of any other batsmen so far this series - they all scratch around and get out for less. At Lord's in each innings Watson still scored more than Rogers, Hughes, Smith and Haddin combined. Watson certainly needs to do better (and by all reports he is working on the LBW problem) - as do all of the Aussie batsmen - but he doesn't deserve to have the blowtorch focused on him any more than any other batsman given he has scored more runs and has also contributed with the ball. People don't like him because he's a big sook and has wasted a couple of DRS reviews - but that's not grounds for dropping someone. Despite our batting woes, our opening partnerships have been relatively ok averaging 42 (compared to Hayden & Langer's average of 51). Watson has also outscored Cook, Trott and Pieterson this series. Watson is also the best performer with the bat in the other UK tour games - averaging 100 - Hughes has scored more runs but batted 6 times to Watson's 2. All the India homework stuff should be put in the past now Boof is in charge - you won't see any more Clarke personality clashes either (with Watson and Katich).
Nudge
Guest
I think we should keep him. No one is doing better. He has bowled 40 tight overs so far and yet pattinson has broken down with too much bowling. If he wasn't there bowling 20 overs last test fair chance we would be 2 bowlers down with Harris getting injured. Not sure how you can drop our best performed top 6 bat in this series when you consider how valuable his bowling is. Also safe in the slips. All the Watson haters better get use to him being around a bit longer as some of boofs comments suggest he is keen to spend some time with him to turn his career around
Gr8rWeStr
Guest
I'd like to think you are correct but fear CA's batting all rounder obsession will continue to see him selected until they think Maxwell has improved enough. A fact I found interesting is that Watson has the best Test average in the Australian squad batting at no. 4, our biggest problem position in the top 6 according to individual averages for each position, and there are two batsmen, Hughes and Cowan, who have a better Test average than him batting in Watson's preferred no. 1 position.
AGB
Guest
they won't drop him for 3 reasons: 1. There is no other batsman knocking down the door. Too much inconsistancy with others. 2. His bowling adds another dimension and is often a partnership breaker. 3. He looks like he could dismantle the opposition attack. There remains a philosophical need for Australia to dominate the opposition bowling rather than wear them down. yes agree he is being played by the English bowlers. Set aside the ego and find the grind time needed
Graham Smith
Roar Guru
He should see out the series but be open to moving down the list and bowling more. Whether he is still there in Brisbane will depend on his performances in the last two tests.
davros
Guest
ha ha too true.... also his demands and being indulged to open batting put a lot of uneccessary pressure on Cowan..who might ...I say might have done a better job there
davros
Guest
+1
Roge
Guest
No need to drop Watto, just ask him to bowl 10 overs on the trot. He'll be out for 2 tests with a calf injury.