Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is a professional cricketerfrom Australia. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler.
He debuted for the Australian cricket team in 2002, playing his first One Day International against South Africa. While he has become a regular member of the one-day squad, Watson only reached his 50th Test Match for Australia in the fifth Ashes match in January 2014, having debuted against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2005. Despite being allocated to be Australia's designated Test all-rounder, injuries have often prevented him from claiming his position in the Test team. However, from the second half of 2009, Watson acted as Australian Test opening batsman, along with Simon Katich, but has since settled into the number three position.
Watson was awarded the 2010[2] Allan Border Medal and again in 2011,[3] becoming the second player (after Ricky Ponting) to win back-to back Allan Border Medals. He won a total of 6 awards in the Tests, ODI & T20I player of the year awards category, which is the most by any player. He is the only player to win "Player of the Year" award in all formats.[4] Watson's wife Lee, whom he married on 29 May 2010, is aFox Sports Australia presenter.[5]
He was declared man of the series in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 for scoring a total of 249 with an average of 49.80, while taking 11 wickets with the ball.[6] He is the only player to win four consecutive Player of the Match Awards in ICC event history.[7] He has also been voted the man of the tournament in the IPL a record two times in 2008 and 2013.
He holds several records in ODIs and T20Is. Some of them include, the highest ODI score in a run-chase,[8] highest one day international score by an Australian batsman,[9] highest ODI batting average of all Australian opening batsmen who have scored over 1000 runs.[10] highest T20Istrike rate of all opening batsmen who have played over 30 matches.[11]
According to Forbes, Watson is the highest paid cricketer outside of India, earning over US$5.9 million in 2012, 2013[12] and 2014.[13][14] He became the highest paid Australian cricketer in 2011
Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is a professional cricketerfrom Australia. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler.
He debuted for the Australian cricket team in 2002, playing his first One Day International against South Africa. While he has become a regular member of the one-day squad, Watson only reached his 50th Test Match for Australia in the fifth Ashes match in January 2014, having debuted against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2005. Despite being allocated to be Australia's designated Test all-rounder, injuries have often prevented him from claiming his position in the Test team. However, from the second half of 2009, Watson acted as Australian Test opening batsman, along with Simon Katich, but has since settled into the number three position.
Watson was awarded the 2010[2] Allan Border Medal and again in 2011,[3] becoming the second player (after Ricky Ponting) to win back-to back Allan Border Medals. He won a total of 6 awards in the Tests, ODI & T20I player of the year awards category, which is the most by any player. He is the only player to win "Player of the Year" award in all formats.[4] Watson's wife Lee, whom he married on 29 May 2010, is aFox Sports Australia presenter.[5]
He was declared man of the series in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 for scoring a total of 249 with an average of 49.80, while taking 11 wickets with the ball.[6] He is the only player to win four consecutive Player of the Match Awards in ICC event history.[7] He has also been voted the man of the tournament in the IPL a record two times in 2008 and 2013.
He holds several records in ODIs and T20Is. Some of them include, the highest ODI score in a run-chase,[8] highest one day international score by an Australian batsman,[9] highest ODI batting average of all Australian opening batsmen who have scored over 1000 runs.[10] highest T20Istrike rate of all opening batsmen who have played over 30 matches.[11]
According to Forbes, Watson is the highest paid cricketer outside of India, earning over US$5.9 million in 2012, 2013[12] and 2014.[13][14] He became the highest paid Australian cricketer in 2011.[15][16][17][18]
Contents
[hide]
1 Playing career1.1 Early career
1.2 International career
2 T20 World Cup 20122.1 Indian Premier League
3 Records3.1 One Day International
3.2 Twenty20 International
3.3 Other
4 Style4.1 Batting
4.2 Bowling
5 Achievements5.1 Awards
5.2 Test Player of the Series awards
5.3 Test Man of the Match awards
5.4 Test centuries
5.5 Test five-wicket hauls
5.6 ODI Player of the Series awards
5.7 ODI Man of the Match awards
5.8 One Day International centuries
5.9 T20I Player of the Series awards
5.10 T20I Man of the Match awards
5.11 T20 centuries
6 References
7 External links
Playing career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Watson was an AIS Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder in 2000.[19] He started his first-class cricketing career forTasmania after leaving his home state of Queensland, but returned to play for his native Queensland as his international career was beginning. He has also played for Hampshire in the English County Championship in 2005. He regards Terry Alderman as one of his mentors.
International career[edit]
Watson was selected for his first Australian team in early 2002, being selected to tour South Africa with the Test team after topping the Pura Cup wicket-taking charts for Tasmania, as well as steady middle-order batting performances. Australian captain at the time Steve Waugh stated that Watson would possibly be Australia's first genuine all rounder since Keith Millerand Alan Davidson in the 1950s. Watson expressed joy at being selected in an Australian team with Waugh, whom he cited as his idol. Watson scored an unbeaten century on his debut in a tour match, but did not play in the Tests as the selectors retained the same XI that had swept South Africa 3–0 in the Australian season. Watson did make his ODI debut on tour, ironically replacing Waugh, who was sacked after the team failed to make the ODI finals in the preceding Australian summer. Watson continued as a regular member of the ODI team until he suffered three stress fractures in his back, at the start of 2003, missing the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He was replaced by his Queensland teammate Andrew Symonds, who proceeded to establish his position as the all rounder after scoring 143* and 91* during the tournament.
Watson's injury sidelined him until the 2003–04 Australian season, and during his rehabilitation he played most of the season as a batsman, allowing himself to improve his batting skills while his back was still healing. During this time he smashed an unbeaten 300* for his club side, Lindisfarne.
Watson returned to regular ODI duty in the 2004–05 season, as a bowling all rounder. He also played in the Third Test against Pakistan as the fifth bowler, in order to allow Australia to play two spinners and three pace bowlers on a dry Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.
Following England's Ashes victory over Australia in 2005 with a five bowler strategy, Australia responded by including Watson as the fifth bowler and all rounder in all Test matches. Watson stated his intention to emulate Andrew Flintoff, who played the analogous role for England. Watson played against the ICC World XI in the role, but he dislocated his shoulder in just his second Test in that designated role against the West Indies, after diving to field a ball. Watson was again replaced by Symonds and was unable to represent Australia for the remainder of the summer.
He was recalled for the one day squad for the 2006 tour of South Africa but was dropped when all-rounder Andrew Symonds returned from injury. Watson was looking to establish a place in the Test side when he got injured, and Andrew Symonds stepped in to fill the gap.
Watson had been previously criticised for his relatively flat bowling trajectory and inability to move the ball, reflected in his relatively high bowling average. Jamie Cox, a former Tasmanian team-mate and future Australian selector, felt that Watson was being mis-used as a bowling allrounder, believing that he was better suited as a conventional batsman and part-timer bowler, rather than a bowler who engaged in power hitting in the latter part of an innings.
Shane Watson 2012
This changed when Watson opened the batting for Australia at the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, alongside wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist, instead of Simon Katich. In the competition he impressed with both the ball and bat, as Australia moved to their first Champions Trophy victory. Critics and captain Ricky Pontingcited his better strike rate, straight hitting and the ability to bowl as the reasons why he was selected ahead of Katich. After failing in the first two matches against the West Indies and England, Watson made a 50 in Australia's victory over India, which sealed their place in the semi-finals, he then took 2 wickets and scored 57 not out in the finals to seal the win. In the 2009 Champions Trophy held in South Africa, Watson again played a prominent role, making two consecutive 100s against England and New-Zealand in semi-final and final, helping Australia to defend their title.
Ponting suggested that Watson would bat at the number 6 position in the Ashes series against England in 2006–07, and he was named in the squad. However, he came off the ground in a one-day domestic game the week before the first Test with a suspected hamstring tear, which ruled him out for the first three Tests. Michael Clarke was called up in Watson's place, and responded with a half-century, and then a century to cement Clarke's place in the team.
Watson was expected to be fit for the fourth Test on Boxing Day and the MCG in Melbourne, and because of Damien Martyn's unexpected retirement, it looked likely that Watson would be included in the side. However, another injury setback in a match for Queensland ruled Watson out for the rest of the Ashes series. Watson eventually returned in February to the ODI side, replacing Cameron White in the all rounder position, However he again broke down with injury during the 29th match of 2007 Cricket World Cup and missed two matches of the Super 8's before returning in fine style smashing an unbeaten 65 off 32 balls against New Zealand. Injury again struck Watson in the early stages of the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 as he missed most of the tournament due to hamstring strain. He was then out of action for the 2007–08 Australian season.
After Symonds was omitted from the Australian team for disciplinary reasons, and Watson took the all rounder's position for the tour of India in late-2008, batting at No. 6. During the Third Test in Delhi, he was involved in a series of confrontations with Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, who scored a double century and reached his century by lofting Watson over midwicket for six. During the innings, Gambhir elbowed Watson while going for a run, and claimed that the incident was not intentional at a press conference, and claiming that Watson had no capacity to dismiss him. He later pleaded guilty and was banned for one match.
After returning to Australia, Symonds was recalled to the Test team and both all rounders played in the First Test against New Zealand in Brisbane. As the pitch was a green, rain-affected moist surface expected to favour seamers, spinner Jason Krejza was dropped to accommodate two seam bowling all rounders. After the match, which Australia won, Watson was dropped as spinner Nathan Hauritz was included and Symonds retained. Symonds continued to perform poorly, and there were calls for Watson to take his place, but both men then fell injured at the end of the year, Watson with a stress fracture. Watson returned to international duty in the ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE, scoring a century.
Shane Watson 2013
He returned to the Australian Test side for the 3rd Ashes Test match at Edgbaston on 30 July 2009 when he replaced opener Phillip Hugheswho had been struggling for form. In a rain interrupted match he made 62 and 53 batting alongside Simon Katich.[20] He scored his second highest Test score of 96 against the West Indies in the Second Test in Adelaide in December 2009. He and Katich put on a century stand and he had reached 96 at stumps, only to inside edge his first ball of the next morning onto his stumps while attempting to hit a boundary to reach his century. In the Third Test, he made 89 in another century stand with Katich. In the second innings, he removed opposition captain Chris Gayle and then charged towards him, screaming in celebration directly in front of him. This earned him a fine from the match referee, and considerable criticism from much of the Australian public.
In the First Test against Pakistan, he made 93 runs on Boxing Day and featured in his third century stand in as many matches with Katich, but was run out after a mix-up with Katich in which both players ended up running towards the same end, again falling short of his debut Test hundred. On Day four, Watson finally made his first Test hundred. He went to lunch sitting on 98* and including the lunch break was stuck in the 90s for 106 minutes. After the lunch break he got to 99, and was then stuck there and could only get dot balls. He brought up his debut Test century in interesting style, hitting the ball hard to Abdur Rauf at point who put the catch down. The ball spilled away and gave Watson enough time to run through for the single he needed. His century came after 293 minutes off 186 balls with 9 fours and a six. When Ponting declared, he remained not out, making 120. Watson was awarded man of the match on 30 December for his role in Australia's Test victory.
In the second innings of the Second Test at the SCG, Watson fell short of another century, dismissed for 97. During this Test, the Australian Cricket Media Association presented Watson with Australian Cricketer of the Year Award.[21]
In the first test of Australia's 2010 tour of India, Watson opened his account with his second test century – an attritional 126 runs off 338 balls on a slow, low Mohali pitch. The innings capped an excellent start to the tour, as he also scored a century in each innings of the warm-up match, albeit at a much brisker pace. He topscored again in the second innings with a run-a-ball 56, which proved vital in setting a competitive target as Australia's middle order again collapsed in spectacular fashion following his dismissal.
On 30 March 2011, Watson was named test and ODI vice-captain.[22] On 11 April 2011 he made 185 not out off 96 ballsagainst Bangladesh. Watson made several records in this match, which include most sixes, highest score by an Australian batsman,[23] fastest 150 and most runs from boundaries. Due to injuries in the home series against South Africa and Sri Lanka, he decided to become a top order batsman instead of an allrounder.
Before the 3rd Test against India in March 2013, Australia dropped Shane Watson, along with James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja for failing to do homework. Watson had subsequently flown back to Australia due to the birth of his first child.[24] Several former players reacted with astonishment at the harsh decision taken by the team management.[25]
T20 World Cup 2012[edit]
Before the tournament, there were no expectations on Australia as it was ranked very low at 10th in the rankings.[26] After two stages of the tournament, Australia were placed at 6th moving up four places[27] and became one of the favourites to win the tournament.[28] This is the only time the place in the rankings changed so drastically in a short time, due to four straight wins against top ranked teams.
In the first match against Ireland at R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, he opened the bowling & took 3/26 (wickets of opener-captain William Porterfield, keeper-batsman Niall O'Brien and dangerous Kevin O'Brien) and then scored a breezy 51 from 30 to help his side win the match in 15.1 overs. He was subsequently awarded the Man of the Match. In the next match against West Indies he again opened bowling & batting, took 2/29 from 4 overs(wickets of Chris Gayle & Kieron Pollard) and then scored 41* from 24 balls to win Man of the Match as his side won by 17 runs (by Duckworth-Lewis method). Against India, he was used as 2nd change bowler & took 3/34. It was he who had changed the game by taking the wickets of Yuvraj Singh and opener Irfan Pathan in 11th over. He also dismissed dangerous Suresh Raina in the last over. he followed it up with a 72 from 42 balls (7 sixes & 2 fours) making a mockery of the target 141.[29] Against South Africa, he took 2/29 (wickets of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers) and then followed it up with 70 from 47 balls to win 4 consecutiveMan of the Match awards.After Group stages and Super Eight stages were finished, watson had most runs, most wickets, most sixes and most man of the match awards.[30][31] His dominance with both bat and ball has made him the unanimous choice of the experts to be named player of the tournament.[32][33][34]
Shane Watson in 2015
Indian Premier League[edit]
Watson played in the Indian Premier League for the Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL season. Signed for US $125,000, he performed well with both the bat and the ball scoring four half-centuries to anchor his team to victory in three matches of the tournament and in the semifinals. He also picked up 17 wickets, won four man of the match awards in his first twelve games and also won the Man of the Series award.[35]
On the back of his IPL performance, Watson was subsequently selected to replace Matthew Hayden in the one day series as part of Australia's tour to the West Indies, after Hayden had injured himself during the IPL season.[36] Watson went on to establish himself as an ODI opener in the series.
Watson missed the second IPL season due to national duty and injury, and Rajasthan failed to reach the top four in the qualifying rounds. For the 2011 season, Rajasthan Royals successfully retained Shane Watson along with the skipperShane Warne.[37]
On 22 April 2013 he scored his first century in IPL playing against Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, India. He scored 101 runs of 61 balls hitting 6 boundaries and 6 sixes. This was also his first hundred in Twenty20 cricket. His strong performances continued and subsequently went on to win man of the tournament award for the 2013 IPL.
For the 2014 IPL season, for which a fresh auction was held, Watson was again retained by the Royals, making him one of the few international cricketers to play for the same IPL franchise since the inception of the tournament, grouping him along with Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore), M. S. Dhoni, Suresh Raina and R. Ashwin (Chennai Super Kings), Shaun Marsh (Kings XI Punjab) and Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga (Mumbai Indians), who were also retained by their respective franchises.[38] He was also appointed the captain of the team for the 2014 season.[38]
Records[edit]
One Day International[edit]
Highest One Day International (ODI) score in a run-chase.[8][39]
Holds all top three spots in the list of ODI highest scores by Australian batsmen in a run-chase.[39][40]
Highest ODI batting average of all Australian opening batsmen who have scored over 1000 runs.[10]
Best ODI all-round figures (batting-bowling average) of all Australian players who have scored over 2000 runs and took at least 100 wickets.[41]
Highest percentage of runs in an ODI innings for a team score of at least 100 runs.[42][43]
Highest one day international score by an Australian batsman.[9][39]
Twenty20 International[edit]
Highest Twenty20 International (T20I) strike rate of all opening batsmen who have played over 30 matches.[11]
Best T20I all-round figures(batting-bowling average) of all players who have scored over 1000 runs and took at least 30 wickets.[44]
Holds the highest career best rating for T20I All-Rounder Rankings with a rating of 557, which is at least 100 points higher than the second best.[45]
Only player to have held number 1 ranking for both batting and all-rounder rankings in T20I.[46][47] Also topped ODI all-rounder rankings[48] and held second spot in tests.[49]
Only player to post a half-century and take three wickets in the same match three times in T20I and twice in World Twenty20.[50]
Only player to have topped runs, wickets and sixes charts after 24 games of a tournament and two stages of a world tournament.[51][52][53] After Group stage and Super Eight stage of 2012 World T20 were finished, watson had most runs, most wickets, most sixes and most man of the match awards.[31][54][55]
Most sixes in a calendar year in Twenty20 Internationals.[56]
Other[edit]
Only player to win four consecutive Man of the Match awards in ICC event history.[7]
Only player to win Australian "Player of the Year" award in all formats.[4]
Won six awards for the Australian Test, ODI and T20I player of the year awards, which is the most by any player.[4]
Most player of the series awards in T20[57] and IPL.
Style[edit]
Shane Watson plays a straight drive
Batting[edit]
Shane Watson is the epitome of classic textbook technique and power hitting. The key aspects of his batting game are his fantastic front foot driving ability and a strong backfoot game characterised by a trademark Watson pull shot through midwicket.[58] The secret to his clean hitting is the shape he maintains during and after hitting those big shots. Even while he plays outrageous strokes, like the flat-batted swipe over the bowler's head, he manages to stay quite composed. His arms, shoulders and torso are always firm, rarely losing shape.[59]
Bowling[edit]
Shane is a swing bowler, sideways on with a classical high front arm action and sweeping follow through. He can swing the ball both ways. His development has been highlighted with his performance in the test against South Africa in Cape Town, where he took five wickets with genuine late swing.[58]
Achievements[edit]
Awards[edit]
Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year: 2002
Australian ODI Player of the Year: 2010, 2011, 2012
Australian Test Player of the Year: 2011
Australian Twenty20 Player of the Year: 2012, 2013
Allan Border Medal: 2010, 2011
McGilvray Medal 2010
Player of the series ODI vs. West indies 2008 (away), India 2009–10 (away), England 2010–11, Bangladesh 2011 (away)
Player of the series Tests vs. Pakistan 2009–10
Player of the series T20 vs. West Indies 2011–12 (away), World T20 2012–13
Player of the series IPL 2008, 2013
Test Player of the Series awards[edit]
S No
Opponent
Man of Match Awards
Date
Series Performance
Result
1
Pakistan
Match 1: MCG,Melbourne
Dec 2014 – Jan 2010
Runs: 346 (650 balls: 38×4, 4x6), Ave – 69.20, SR – 53.23
Field: 54–13–125–5, Ave – 25.00, SR – 64.80, 6 catches
Won; 3–0[60]
Test Man of the Match awards[edit]
S No
Opponent
Venue
Date
Match Performance
Result
1
Pakistan
Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne
26–30 December 2009
1st Innings: 93 (191 balls: 11×4); 13–3–30–1, 1 catch
2nd Innings: 120* (220 balls: 10×4, 1×6); DNB, 1 catch
Won[61
