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Shane Watson

PhoenixFire

International Coach
Australia will rarely have to go to through all 50 overs at the WC, they could get it out of anyone tbh, Hogg, White, Watson, Hussey and Ponting could chip in with the odd over now and again.
 

four_or_six

Cricketer Of The Year
I'm not saying I wouldn't play him but I just think that he's not a "very good" all-rounder.Might be quite good in the one day format but I'm not sure about tests.
No, I think he's probably not had enough matches to be tested properly to say 'very good' or not... playing for Australia at 7/8 doesn't really give you the time for much batting, and he also often earlier in his career didn't bowl a proper quota of overs.

And he hasn't had a proper crack at tests, but I'd imagine it'd suit his batting better and his bowling worse?
 

Nishant

International 12th Man
Pathan=Watson IMO.....dont rate either of them (although i did used to rate Pathan...but dats a different story!)
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
Pathan=Watson IMO.....dont rate either of them (although i did used to rate Pathan...but dats a different story!)
Do you just mean in 'being overrated', or actual similarity in their games?

Because by God, there is plenty different between them in how they play cricket. One is a swing bowler, one is a hid the deck, one is a bowler who's batting is a bonus, one's is a batsman who can also bowl a bit...

However they are both extremely young, and can't be written off yet. For all we know, by 2012 they could be guns.
 

Nishant

International 12th Man
Do you just mean in 'being overrated', or actual similarity in their games?

Because by God, there is plenty different between them in how they play cricket. One is a swing bowler, one is a hid the deck, one is a bowler who's batting is a bonus, one's is a batsman who can also bowl a bit...

However they are both extremely young, and can't be written off yet. For all we know, by 2012 they could be guns.
No, no....i mean by being overrated! They are different in terms of the way in which they play, but both are being made out to be something special....i dont really think they are!

But, as u said, lots of yrs ahead of them.....
 

FaaipDeOiad

Hall of Fame Member
I just don't think anyone can ever call Watson "a class act" in the pyjama game if he can't adapt his batting to bat at the death. That doesn't mean he won't be a good ODI batsman, but his inability to adapt is a major issue regarding his batting. Almost all other top players, at varying levels, can perform whether they bat at 3-4 or 6-7. Yes they are successful to different extents, but Watson just isn't effective at all.
I really don't agree there. If you put Stephen Fleming at 7, he'd be a very average batsman. Same goes for Hayden, say, or Ian Bell. I think there's a lot of specialist batsmen out there who would struggle to become late over hitters if that's the only thing they got the chance to do. Obviously most adapt far better than Watson, but I don't think he necessarily has to be a good late over batsman to be a good ODI player. The exception to this is obviously batting in the late overs if he is already set. Any decent batsman who is unbeaten on 50 at the 40 over mark should be able to up the scoring rate, but I think Watson is capable of that. If he plays in the top order and bats well and also contributes with the ball, he could be tremendously useful.

Of course, if he's at 7 and playing the way he is at the moment he'll never be anything particularly special.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
Never said he'd wouldn't be a good ODI player if he can't play well in the late overs (that doesn't mean he needs to be a gun big hitter mind you, eg. Clarke at the death can be damn effective and he doesn't hit six after six), just said it'd be tough to describe him as a 'class act'.

And if Dravid can become an effective death batsman, even when he's only been in for a couple of overs, than Fleming would have a decent shout IMO. Not sure about Bell though.
 

pup11

International Coach
Watson is surely a talented bloke look at his stats for hampshire and the bulls, and you would notice they are excellent. Then he also did really well last season, so just give him some time and i am sure he would really do well with both bat and ball.
 

Salamuddin

International Debutant
Australia have unrealistic expectations of Watson....pure and simple.

They want him to be their Freddy Flintoff but he is no where near as talented with the ball.
It doesn't matter that Australia have TRoy Cooley....he can't make an absolute gun out of a fairly average talent.
Troy can only help bowlers reach their potential and Watson's potential as a bowler is very overrated.
 

FaaipDeOiad

Hall of Fame Member
They want him to be their Freddy Flintoff but he is no where near as talented with the ball.
It doesn't matter that Australia have TRoy Cooley....he can't make an absolute gun out of a fairly average talent.
Troy can only help bowlers reach their potential and Watson's potential as a bowler is very overrated.
I think the aim is more that he would be similar to Jacques Kallis. Obviously he's not likely to anywhere near as good, but he'd be a batting all-rounder, not a bowling all-rounder like Flintoff. Actually, if Watson ended up with a test batting record like Flintoff it'd be a major waste of potential really, and he's never going to be anything like Flintoff with the ball.
 

Salamuddin

International Debutant
I think the aim is more that he would be similar to Jacques Kallis. Obviously he's not likely to anywhere near as good, but he'd be a batting all-rounder, not a bowling all-rounder like Flintoff. Actually, if Watson ended up with a test batting record like Flintoff it'd be a major waste of potential really, and he's never going to be anything like Flintoff with the ball.
Yeah that's exactly what I feel.....Watson has a lot of potential with the bat that I won't deny....but they need to be very specific about his role with the ball....I just can't see him beinga front line striker like Freddy.
 

Craig

World Traveller
Well regardless Watson is going to bat down the order so I think he needs to adjust, like giving the strike to the hitters, that way he will be doing his job effectively.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
What does everyone think of him? Personally, I don't rate him at all but some people think he is Australia's answer to an all-rounder? Your thoughts..
Way behind Symonds and Harvey...wonder what happened to "King of Death", he was a very effective bowler in his role.
 

pup11

International Coach
Look guys a single week in cricket can change a lot of things around especially in odi cricket. So the important thing for watson is really how he performs from 24th march onwards.
 

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