Shane Watson brought his injuries, unrealised potential, bizarre antics and overall frustration to the 21st century, where he has become a bitter joke on social media.
Sometimes it is fair: Watson has shown that he can be the best cricketer on the planet, but he has failed to stop the ball thudding into his pads in front of the stumps, and he has failed to stop his body from breaking down.
So far in this World Cup, players have been living up to their career trademarks on the field.
Brendon McCullum has been his typical swashbuckling self, while his teammate Dan Vettori has choked opposing batsmen like it’s 1999. Kumar Sangakarra has been peeling off majestic hundreds, AB DeVilliers has been destroying bowling attacks, and Glenn Maxwell has continued to invent new ways of playing cricket.
Shane Watson has been dropped for being frustratingly average.
Watson hasn’t had a good tournament so far, but there is no way he isn’t in Australia’s best XI. He got a rare good delivery from Stuart Broad against England, was half of the biggest partnership of Australia’s disastrous innings against New Zealand, and alongside Maxwell took the game away from Sri Lanka with a powerful innings of 67.
He’s only averaging 30 for the tournament, but he missed crucial average-boosting games against Afghanistan and Bangladesh due to a combination of weather interference and selection decisions. His bowling was not good against Sri Lanka, but he hasn’t been given much of an opportunity elsewhere with the ball.
There is a certain misfortune about Watson’s career. He was set to become the dashing all-rounder Australia never really had, or needed, during their golden era; a genuinely fast bowler with power through the middle order. As a result of relentless injuries, Watson shaped his game to become Australia’s most skilled regular bowler and a top-order batsman who can be devastating against the new ball.
When his run of injuries cleared, Watson became the star all-rounder Australia craved. In 2011 he won the Test and one-day player of the year awards, alongside his Allan Border Medal. He missed out sweeping the pool with the T20 player of the year award, but he won that in both 2012 and 2013. No other player has won in all three formats at any point.
Watson is the only player to win four consecutive man of the match awards and was IPL player of the tournament in 2008 and 2012. Yet his career is still viewed as a disappointment.
In short-form cricket, Watson has been magnificent. Adam Gilchrist aside, it’s very difficult to argue that Watson is anything other than Australia’s greatest short-form all-rounder. No Australian opening batsman has scored at least 1000 runs at a higher average than Watson in one-day internationals, and Steve Waugh is the only player to have taken more wickets than Watson and have any sort of impact with the bat. Dave Warner is the only other Australian to have scored 1000 T20 international runs, and no Australian has taken as many T20 international wickets as Watson.
Simply, Watson has been a superstar in coloured clothing for his country. Yet he remains incredibly unappreciated.
Watson’s Test form has notably failed to live up to his limited-overs record. Yet, wicketkeepers aside again, he has probably been Australia’s best Test all-rounder since coloured television was introduced.
Watson has been far from a failure, but he has never been a fan favourite. The combination of a bunch of failed reviews, the constant suspicion that he is selfish, his unreliability, and his huge potential has resulted in a player who is almost unlikeable. Unlikable to the point where Australia has turned on him.
It is near impossible to find a picture on Facebook related to Australian sport without a comment calling for something – anything – to replace Watson in the Australian side. Twitter seems to swell with told-you-so bragging as soon as he fails with the bat. There is no nickname that has been used in a derogatory way more than Watto on social media during this World Cup.
If Watson was a politician, his polling numbers would be at Abbott-like levels, yet he has been so good in his career that he deserves to be remembered as a star.
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