simmy
International Regular
Yeah from an English perspective I am a little frustrated that the Aussie selectors have shown some kahunas and made a decision that makes there team quite a bit stronger.Haven't read any of the discussion here yet, but I'll go on record as saying that I don't think it's a bad decision to pick Watson, or to have him open. I think having Hussey open and batting Watson at 4 would probably be a better choice but it's understandable if the selectors don't want to displace Hussey with his somewhat shaky form etc.
I wouldn't be surprised if Watson did reasonably well opening the batting, he's got a good technique and he's such a huge confidence player that throwing him in there against the new ball might do him a world of good. In the modern era opening isn't that different from batting down the order anyway.
To put it another way, if you're going to pick Watson, and the only choices are to have him open or bat at 6 or 7, I think he's better off opening. He's the last of the Australian top order batsmen I'd want stuck with the tail, while Hussey has done very well down the order in general.