Watson begins road back

Australia Test allrounder Shane Watson is remaining positive despite the much-publicised shoulder injury which will keep him out of the game until next year.

Watson damaged his left shoulder playing for the Australians during the first Test against the West Indies earlier this month, but the Brisbane resident is keeping his spirits up.

Despite watching his teammates go on to post another convincing win in the second Test, Watson wasn’t too worried about his chances of wearing the Baggy Green again.

“It’s not frustrating, I love watching cricket, I’m pretty good at watching it too but it’s just great to see the guys doing well,” he said.

“It’s great to see Brett (Lee) back to his best, he’s bowling really well and I just love watching cricket so it makes my days go faster as well.”

A right hander on the cricket pitch, Watson actually uses his left hand for more precise actions such as writing or brushing his teeth, with his injury actually taking more of a toll on his personal life than his cricket.

Expecting to be out of the game for another two or three months, the Queensland player said his aim remained to be back in the Australian set up for the tour of South Africa early next year.

“The great thing is it’s my left arm so I’ll be able to start doing things in the next four to five weeks, skills things and gradually build it up, it’ll be more so the impact of diving and that which will hold me back for a little while,” he said.

“Hopefully I can get back and play a few games before that tour gets picked and hopefully play well. That’s my goal at the moment but it’s hard to set a big goal because you can never know how it’s going to progress because I could come back earlier or it might take a little bit longer so I’ve just got to keep doing absolutely everything I can and hopefully South Africa can be my goal.”

For now Watson said he is just going to enjoy taking the time off to watch his Australian teammates and reflect on his rise as Australia’s premier allrounder.

“It’s been really nice to assess things and how they’re going”, he said.

“It’s been a pretty whirlwind sort of four or five months from the one-day series and then Hampshire and to the Super Series and that as well”.

“It’s been great to reflect on how things were going and move forward.”

Watson also had some words of comfort for his friend and rest Test dumping Michael Clarke, saying he should learn from the experience and come back as a better player.

“I’m really feeling for him because he’s a great guy and he works extremely hard and obviously there’s been a lot of pressures from everywhere on him and he’s obviously been feeling it a bit and hasn’t been his fearless self like he was when he first came into the team,” Watson said.

“He’ll definitely come back a bigger and better player, everyone knows that and I’m sure once it all sort of settles in he’ll realise it’s a blessing in disguise for him and I’m looking forward to seeing him dominate in the future.”