Shane Watson

Shane Watson

Australia

Full name Shane Robert Watson
Born June 17, 1981, Ipswich, Queensland
Current age 25 years 257 days
Major teams Australia, Hampshire, Queensland, Tasmania
Nickname Watto
Playing role All-rounder
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Height 1.83 m

Statsguru

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	3	4	0	81	31	20.25	212	38.20	0	0	8	0	0	0
ODIs	57	41	13	856	79	30.57	1166	73.41	0	6	68	9	13	0
Twenty20 Int.	1	1	0	4	4	4.00	6	66.66	0	0	0	0	0	0
First-class	55	94	14	3938	203*	49.22			11	19			37	0
List A	115	96	20	2528	132	33.26	3376	74.88	2	16			27	0
Twenty20	8	8	1	134	97*	19.14	113	118.58	0	1			4	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	3	186	123	2	1/25	1/25	61.50	3.96	93.00	0	0	0
ODIs	57	2326	1898	58	4/39	4/39	32.72	4.89	40.10	2	0	0
Twenty20 Int.	1	18	35	1	1/35	1/35	35.00	11.66	18.00	0	0	0
First-class	55	5226	3106	103	6/32		30.15	3.56	50.73		2	1
List A	115	4011	3404	96	4/39	4/39	35.45	5.09	41.78	2	0	0
Twenty20	8	66	94	5	3/30	3/30	18.80	8.54	13.20	0	0	0

Test debut	Australia v Pakistan at Sydney - Jan 2-5, 2005
Last Test	Australia v West Indies at Brisbane - Nov 3-7, 2005
ODI debut	South Africa v Australia at Centurion - Mar 24, 2002
Last ODI	New Zealand v Australia at Hamilton - Feb 20, 2007
Only Twenty20 Int.	South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg - Feb 24, 2006
First-class span	2000/01 - 2006/07
List A span	2000/01 - 2006/07
Twenty20 span	2004 - 2006

Notes

Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year - 2002

Profile

Hulklike, blond and spiky-haired, Shane Watson should be the shiny embodiment of modern-day Australian cricket - if only that body didn't keep cracking up. Vivacious in all departments, he is the quintessential young man in a hurry. As a boy he played for Queensland Under-17s at 15, then went to the Academy. As a youth he upped and fled to Tasmania, desperate to gatecrash first-class cricket. Within five games he had clubbed his maiden hundred; within a year he was picked for Australia. Talent-spotted with the 2003 World Cup in mind, he ultimately missed out with stress fractures of the back - the same injury that riddled his teenage years. Until then his batting had lacked nothing in swagger and only a little in gap-finding artifice, while his bowling looked willing if docile. Apart from a nude photoshoot in an arty men's mag he faded swiftly from view, bouncing back in 2003-04 with four hundreds from No. 4 for Tasmania. He smashed an unbeaten 300, too, in a club game for Lindisfarne; then, irked by opposition attempts to thwart him reaching his triple, immediately ripped out 7 for 29.

Watson remains the cleanest of hitters and, several remodelled actions later, decidedly sharp with the ball. Back at home in Queensland (he hated the cold), he is the hot tip to become Australia's next champion allrounder - not least in the opinion of Australia's last one. "He has all the attributes," noted Alan Davidson in 2002. "A fine physical specimen, good athlete; just give him time." Picked for his first Test in 2004-05, he landed face-down after his opening delivery before finding his feet with Younis Khan's wicket and 31 runs. He didn't play in Australia's Ashes defeat, but his stock rose in the aftermath, as Andrew Flintoff highlighted the benefits of a genuine allrounder. The following season was ruined by a partial dislocation of his shoulder while fielding just minutes after his second Test wicket against West Indies, and he watched his good mate Andrew Symonds fill in during his rehabilitation.

Picked for the one-day tour of South Africa, he missed a return to the Test squad, but a fine 201 in the Pura Cup final demolition of Victoria eased the pain. Locked into Australia's one-day team as an opener - he survived food poisoning, which he feared was a heart attack, during a strong Champions Trophy campaign - and lined up as the Test allrounder, he was again floored when his body faltered. A persistent hamstring injury destroyed his Ashes dreams and he heads to the World Cup with nagging doubts over his wonky fitness.