SA Footy

A while ago I spruiked Shane Watson as the allrounding real deal
It seemed almost everyone on SAFOOTY thought he was a dud spud cricketer
I stuck with him, and he came good

BUT

About a year ago I also posted that the great man would be on the decline
Too many things are happening to him
He got married
He is on TV shows
He is making commercials
Basically he was limelighting like a person who has starred for 10 years and not for about 2 years

These days Watto is like a fish on a mountain
He is , in my opinion, just about finished as a Test Cricketer
If the selectors continue to make him a middle order , allrounder, they are dreaming
He WAS a good Test opener who averaged about 45-50 when opening
Batting anywhere else he HAS BEEN very ordinary and averages 25-30

These days as a non opener he has weaknesses against :
left hand spin
left hand medium pace
left hand pace
right arm spin
right arm medium
right arm pace

His bowling is starting to show signs of deteriorating
When his bowling ability descends , he will be a bits and pieces allrounder, and not worthy of a spot at Test Level
And added to this, he is still a cripple

Shane Watson must open the batting for AU or must play for NSW

He still remains a wonderful player in limited overs formats , where he is the ultimate matchwinner
In the Test arena, his match winning performances are very few

I disagree about his bowling deteriorating Mal.

He batted well in a compromised series against Pakistan apart from that he has been average at best.

May well be Captain in the 2nd test

The amount of times this bloke breaks important partnerships is clearly underrated by you lot...

Think our side would struggle big time without that 5th bowler.

wish he wasnt such a lemon fitness wise, it would be great if he batted at 7 bowled some more and we could bring in hartley as keeper and to bat at 8

Watson with the breakthrough.

Watto batting averages as an opening batsman
2008-2011
EG 48.0
WI 52.6
PA 69.2
NZ 38.5
PA 16.0
EG 48.3
IN 67.7
SL 17.4
SA 23.7
For a player who bowled , they are excellent performances as a batsman


These are the detailed stats when Watto has not opened the batting , batting spot listed b4 runs
2005-2008 +2011-2012
PAKISTAN
7 -31
WEST INDIES
7-16
ICC
7-24
7-10
INDIA
6-2
6-41
6-78
6-2
6-36
6-2
6-9
NEW ZEALAND
1-7
5-7
WEST INDIES
3-39
3-53
3-56
3-0
3-41
3-5
SOUTH AFRICA
3-10
3-25
SRI LANKA
4-30
4-5
TOTAL
529 RUNS
23.00 AVE


Bowling when non opener
2005-2008 +2011-2012
PAKISTAN
0/28
1/32
WEST INDIES
1/25
ICC
0/38
INDIA
3/45
0/8
0/71
0/20
2/66
0/27
1/42
4/42
WEST INDIES
1/46
1/30
0/14
0/15
0/12
1/20
SOUTH AFRICA
1/22
0/24
SRI LANKA Current Test
1/55
1/10
TOTAL
18 WICKETS
692 RUNS
41.33 AVE

When we condense the total Watto stats as the non opener
Batting
529 runs
23.00 ave

Bowling
18 wickets
692 runs
38.44



Wattos careers stats
Batting
2363 runs
36.92 ave

Bowling
60 wickets
1752 runs
29.20 ave

If he retired right now, they are good career stats for an allrounder
But as a non opener Wattos batting ave of 23 and bowling average of 38 is well below par for Watto

2011-2012 batting 3+4
Bowling 6/248 @ 41-33
Batting 263 runs @ 26.33
He has not taken more than 1 wicket in an innings
Has made 2 half centuries , and a high score of 56 runs , in his last 10 innings

His batting has been poor for a number 3 + 4 batsman
His bowling ave of 41.33 is well below par
Watto , as we can see , is badly out of form for player of his standards

Ian Chappell has said several times he is a good opener, and struggles in other spots in the batting order
I agree with Ian

Average Test Cricketer NOW
Star Limited overs player

Nice stats there Mal. I agree with Ian Chappell too, Watson really needs to go back to opening the batting in the test side, clearly that's where he is suited best. I think Ed Cowan is doing well but I would like to see Watson and Warner together at the top of the order again.

The Dark Knight wrote:Nice stats there Mal. I agree with Ian Chappell too, Watson really needs to go back to opening the batting in the test side, clearly that's where he is suited best. I think Ed Cowan is doing well but I would like to see Watson and Warner together at the top of the order again.

Im still thinking Warner to 3, Hughes to 4
Cowan and Watto to open.

Jim05 wrote:

The Dark Knight wrote:Nice stats there Mal. I agree with Ian Chappell too, Watson really needs to go back to opening the batting in the test side, clearly that's where he is suited best. I think Ed Cowan is doing well but I would like to see Watson and Warner together at the top of the order again.

Im still thinking Warner to 3, Hughes to 4
Cowan and Watto to open.

Warner at three would be a very attacking move, maybe somewhere down the line he might get an opportunity to bat at three. Watson and Cowan would make it a more balanced opening combination I suppose, not just all out attack, a guy like Cowan who can bat time and who can stick around giving the strike to his more aggressive partner can be handy.

I'd at least like a left/right hand opening combination- Watson and/or Cowan/Warner.

Personally think too much is made of the whole left/right combo thing.
For years we had Hayden/Langer, the Poms have Strauss/Cook and they went allright.

Jim05 wrote:Personally think too much is made of the whole left/right combo thing.
For years we had Hayden/Langer, the Poms have Strauss/Cook and they went allright.

All left handed, maybe it's more important to have the lefties in

whufc wrote:

Jim05 wrote:Personally think too much is made of the whole left/right combo thing.
For years we had Hayden/Langer, the Poms have Strauss/Cook and they went allright.

All left handed, maybe it's more important to have the lefties in

Fair point.
Amazing to think that only about 10% of the population are lefties yet most cricket sides contain atleast 30-40% of lefties.

Jim05 wrote:

whufc wrote:

Jim05 wrote:Personally think too much is made of the whole left/right combo thing.
For years we had Hayden/Langer, the Poms have Strauss/Cook and they went allright.

All left handed, maybe it's more important to have the lefties in

Fair point.
Amazing to think that only about 10% of the population are lefties yet most cricket sides contain atleast 30-40% of lefties.

And WE ALL love the cut shot!

Jim05 wrote:

whufc wrote:

Jim05 wrote:Personally think too much is made of the whole left/right combo thing.
For years we had Hayden/Langer, the Poms have Strauss/Cook and they went allright.

All left handed, maybe it's more important to have the lefties in

Fair point.
Amazing to think that only about 10% of the population are lefties yet most cricket sides contain atleast 30-40% of lefties.

But not all of those are left side dominant. Plenty of left handed batsmen are right handed.

Watto definitly back to opening but im not sure of the combo. I like Cowan to open as he is solid. Maybe warner to 3.

rod_rooster wrote:

Jim05 wrote:

whufc wrote:

Jim05 wrote:Personally think too much is made of the whole left/right combo thing.
For years we had Hayden/Langer, the Poms have Strauss/Cook and they went allright.

All left handed, maybe it's more important to have the lefties in

Fair point.
Amazing to think that only about 10% of the population are lefties yet most cricket sides contain atleast 30-40% of lefties.

But not all of those are left side dominant. Plenty of left handed batsmen are right handed.

Yeah I'm in that category, play some sports left handed, some right handed which is the hand I write with

Jim05 wrote:

whufc wrote:

Jim05 wrote:Personally think too much is made of the whole left/right combo thing.
For years we had Hayden/Langer, the Poms have Strauss/Cook and they went allright.

All left handed, maybe it's more important to have the lefties in

Fair point.
Amazing to think that only about 10% of the population are lefties yet most cricket sides contain atleast 30-40% of lefties.

We have only one right hander in our top 7 bats in our atca a grade side. Wierd!!!

whufc wrote:

Jim05 wrote:Personally think too much is made of the whole left/right combo thing.
For years we had Hayden/Langer, the Poms have Strauss/Cook and they went allright.

All left handed, maybe it's more important to have the lefties in

Greenidge and Haynes

JK wrote:

whufc wrote:

Jim05 wrote:Personally think too much is made of the whole left/right combo thing.
For years we had Hayden/Langer, the Poms have Strauss/Cook and they went allright.

All left handed, maybe it's more important to have the lefties in

Greenidge and Haynes

followed by Viv and then Richie before the token left hander