Watson is ready to prove that he deserves to come in at number four
Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has revealed that he is comfortable coming in at number four since it was the position in which he started at during his time with Tasmania and Queensland prior to his international debut.
Watson has tried coming in at all positions on the batting lineup, from opening to number seven, but he confirmed that he will do everything possible to cement his number four spot.
After the retirement of former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, Watson was initially chosen to take his spot on the Test roster, which would have seen him coming in at number three, but he was pushed down the order after the national selectors believed batsman Phillip Hughes would do better coming in at one down.
“I think this is more a permanent move,” Watson said. “I hope so anyway.
“It has certainly tested out what my skills are. I certainly enjoyed opening but it meant I wasn’t really able to bowl that much really, considering I was going to have to go in and take the first ball. Four hopefully will suit me really well. I know how important the No.4 spot is.
“To be able to hopefully set up an innings when the platform has already been set for me, or come in and hopefully build a big total if we’ve lost a few early wickets. It’s where I actually started batting when I was playing first-class cricket when I was younger. It’s the position I probably know the best from a few years back anyway.”
Watson actually scored his highest first-class score coming in at number four, smashing a double century for Queensland in a Sheffield Shield final, which helped him get noticed by the national selectors.
“That’s where I batted for Queensland, and it is where I batted for a bit of my time in Tasmania as well,” Watson said. It just gives me that opportunity to be able to bowl the overs that my body allows me to and the captain wants [and] to then be able to freshen up and hopefully be able to bat for a long period of time as well. It’d be nice to be able to get into a position and make it my own by scoring the runs so that hopefully they don’t really want to move me anywhere else.”
While Watson states that he is willing to fight to keep his number four spot, critics are going to let his batting do the talking since he has been less than impressive during Test matches, having only scored two centuries since his debut.
“It has been my biggest downfall, in Test cricket especially, once I’ve done all the hard work to be able to sustain my intensity at the crease to be able to get through those periods,” Watson said. “I know where I’ve been falling down and I’m certainly doing everything I can to hope that doesn’t occur.
“Batting in the top four I know how important it is to be consistent, then the team can rely on you, its not as hit-and-miss, on your day you have to go on and get a big score and that is something I need to continue on and improve on and get better at. I am certainly working hard mentally because I know it’s more mental than technical, because I get through the times when the bowlers are bowling their best and its about being able to hold that intensity in my mind over a long period of time.”
The all-rounder also admitted to asking Ponting for advice and noted that it was one of the best moves he had made in his international career.
“I have to step up and everyone has to, just around the group he really has been the heart beat of the group for such a long period of time,” Watson said of Ponting. “I never took it for granted the impact that he had on the group, but when he’s not there we know a number of us have to step up to do the things Ricky used to do so naturally. So its certainly a big time for the senior players who have to fill that void, but I am not sure if that is ever going to be possible.
“Even at training his energy in the nets, out on the field throwing the stumps down, catching in the slips, whatever he was doing was at the highest intensity and that’s the reason he was so good. He helped everyone around him too, he does know the game so intimately, all the technical aspects of batting and fielding, he always helped you out and that is going to be sorely missed, he significantly helped me in aspects of my game. I am certainly staying in contact, he had a huge impact on my career and if it wasn’t for Ricky I wouldn’t be in the place I am today.”