Shane Watson

At 43 years old, Shane Watson has this physical status:

Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is an Australian international cricketer who has played for Australia’s national cricket team and currently plays for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League and Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League respectively.

Shane Watson is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast-medium swing bowler.

He debuted in 2002 in a One Day International and retired in 2016 as world No. 1 T20I all-rounder.

He was the last player to retire from Australia's golden era of the early 2000s.Watson holds several records in T20Is, ODIs and T20s.

According to Forbes, Watson was the highest-paid non-Indian cricketer in the world for five consecutive years, 2011 to 2015.

Personal life

Watson is married to broadcaster Lee Furlong. They have two children. In 2017, Watson launched a sports clinic, Let’s Activate, for children. It teaches the basics of sports skills, using songs, movement, dance and sports activities. Watson has his own podcast called Lessons Learnt with the Greats.

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Early career

Shane Watson was a holder of the Australian Cricket Academy's scholarship program in 2000. After leaving his home state of Queensland, he began his first-class cricket career for Tasmania, but he returned to play for his hometown Queensland as his international career began. In 2005, he played for Hampshire in the English County Championships.

International career

Watson was selected for his first Australian squad in early 2002, after being selected to tour South Africa with the Test team after winning the Pura Cup wicket-taking charts for Tasmania, as well as stable middle-order batting results. Watson made his ODI debut on tour, replacing Steve Waugh, who was fired after the team failed to qualify for the ODI finals in the preceding Australian summer. Watson continued to play for the ODI team until he suffered three stress fractures in his back at the start of 2003, thus missing the 2003 Cricket World Cup. After scoring 143* and 91* during the tournament, he was swapped by his Queensland teammate Andrew Symonds, who went on to establish his position as the all rounder.

Watson returned to regular ODI duties in the 2004–05 season as a bowling all rounder. In addition, he made his Test debut in the Third Test against Pakistan as the fifth bowler, allowing Australia to field two spinners and three pace bowlers on a dry Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

Following the 2005 Ashes series, Australian selectors selected Watson as the fifth bowler and all rounder in all Test matches. Watson played against the ICC World XI in the role, but he dislocated his shoulder in just his second Test against the West Indies after diving to field a ball. Watson was then replaced by Symonds, and he was unable to represent Australia for the remainder of the summer.

Watson started the batting for Australia at the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, alongside wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist rather than Simon Katich. Watson made a 50 in Australia's victory over India, which guaranteed them a spot in the semi-finals, before failing in the first two matches against the West Indies and England. Watson played a key role in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, winning two straight 100s against England and New Zealand in semi-final and final, assisting Australia in defending their title.

Watson was named in the squad for the 2006–07 Ashes series against England. However, he came off the ground in a one-day domestic game the week before the first Test with a suspected hamstring injury, which had ruled him out of the first three Tests. Michael Clarke was called up to Watson's position and responded with a half-century and then a century to solidify Clarke's place in the team.

Watson was supposed to be fit for the fourth Test of Boxing Day and the MCG in Melbourne, and it was likely that Watson would be included in the team because of Damien Martyn's unexpected departure. However, Watson was out of action for the remainder of the Ashes series due to another injury setback in a match for Queensland. Watson returned to the ODI team in February, replacing Cameron White in the all-rounder role, but the 29th match of the 2007 Cricket World Cup was canceled, but he soon returned in fine form against New Zealand, scoring an unbeaten 65 off 32 balls against New Zealand. Watson sustained the most significant injury in the early stages of the 2007 ICC World Twenty2020 as a result of a hamstring strain. He was then out of action for the 2007–08 Australian season.

Watson took the all-rounder's role for the tour of India in late 2008, batting at No. 1 after Symonds was dropped from the Australian team due to discipline reasons. 6. He was involved in a string of alterations with Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, who scored a double century and a century by topfing Watson over six wickets during the Third Test in Delhi.

After returning to Australia, Symonds was recalled to the Test team, and both all rounders appeared in Brisbane's First Test against New Zealand. As the pitch was a green, rain-affected moist surface, seamers and spinner Jason Krejza was left out for two seam bowling all rounders. Watson was disqualified after the match, when Australia defeated Australia, as spinner Nathan Hauritz was included in the game but Symonds retained. Symonds continued to perform poorly, and Watson was expected to take his place, but both men were injured at the end of the year, Watson with a stress fracture. Watson returned to international service in the ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE, netting a century.

He returned to Australia's Test team for the 3rd Ashes Test match at Edgbaston on July 30th, 2009, as an opener. He made 62 and 53 batting alongside Simon Katich in a rain-stopping match. In the second Test in Adelaide in December 2009, he scored his second highest Test score of 96 against the West Indies. He and Katich finished a century with 96 stumps, but only managed to inside his first ball of the next morning onto his stumps when trying to reach a boundary to reach his century. In the Third Test, he made 89 in another century with Katich. He disregarded opposition captain Chris Gayle's in the second innings and charged directly into him, yelling in jubilation. This earned him a fine from the match referee, as well as heavy public outrage.

In the First Test versus Pakistan, he made 93 runs on Boxing Day and appeared in his third century match with Katich, but was eventually disqualified after a mix-up with Katich in which both players ended up running toward the same end, falling short of his debut Test century debut. Watson scored his first Test century on Day four by smashing the ball hard to the fielder at a time when the catch was not complete. He was not out on 120 when Ponting announced, not out on 120. On December 30th, Watson was named man of the match for his contribution to Australia's Test victory.

Watson failed in the second innings of the Second Test at the SCG, falling short of another century, having been dismissed for 97. Watson was named Australian Cricketer of the Year Award by the Australian Cricket Media Association during this Test.

Watson opened his account with his second test century in Australia's 2010 tour of India, with a slow, low Mohali pitch. The innings brought off an excellent start to the tour by winning a century in each innings of the warm-up match, but at a much faster pace. In the second innings, he topscored with a run-a-ball 56, which was pivotal in setting a competitive target after Australia's middle order crumbled in spectacular fashion after his dismissal.

He had the highest Australian Test batting average (50.40) for two calendar years (2009–2010).

Watson was named test and ODI vice-captain on March 30, 2011. He made 185 not out of 96 balls against Bangladesh on April 11, 2011. Watson set new records in this series, including the most sixes, highest score by an Australian batsman, fastest 150, most runs from boundaries, and highest individual score when chasing in an ODI and highest score in the second innings of an ODI match. However, Fakhar Zaman's record of highest individual score during a losing cause was shattered when chasing 342.

He received a number of Australian "Player of the Year" awards from 2010 to 2011, including Allan Border Medal in 2010 and 2011.

There were no hopes about Australia ahead of its 2012 ICC World Twenty20 ranking, which was ranked just 10th in the world. Australia finished sixth on two stages of the tournament, rising four positions and becoming one of the favourites to win the tournament. This is the first time a team's ranking has changed so drastically in a short time, thanks to four consecutive victories over top-ranked teams. Shane Watson, who was in form, was a key to this success.

Watson opened the bowling at R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo against Ireland, winning the match in 15.1 overs. He was later named Man of the Match. He started the bowling and batting in his next match against the West Indies, taking 2–29 from 4 overs (the wickets of Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard). As his team gained by 17 runs (by the Duckworth-Lewis method), he scored 41 not out of 24 balls to win the Man of the Match award. He was used as the second change bowler against India, his score was 3–34. He had changed the game by taking the wickets of Yuvraj Singh and opener Irfan Pathan in the 11th over. Suresh Raina was also dismissed in the last over. He took the initiative from 42 balls (7 sixes and two fours), making a joke of the target 141. He took 2–29 (heart of Hashim Amla and Ab de Villiers), then won his fourth straight Man of the Match award with 70 from 47 balls. Watson had the most runs, wickets, and sixes at the conclusion of the group stages and Super Eight stages. His undisputed success with both bats and ball made him the unanimous pick of the experts to be named Player of the Tournament.

Michael Clarke's team, as well as selector Michael Arthur at the time, and coach Mickey Arthur dropped four players from the 3rd test, including vice-captain Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, and Usman Khawaja for refusing to make a presentation on team results. Watson had then returned to Australia after the birth of his first child. Former players, television, and former athletes chastised Michael Clarke and coach Mickey Arthur for making such a stupid call. Watson returned to the team for the fourth and final test of the series, while Clarke captained the test team (due to a injury to Clarke) for the first time in his career. Watson resigned as vice-captain after the tour, while Cricket Australia fired Mickey Arthur as coach and dismissed Michael Clarke as a selector in the ensuing weeks.

Shane Watson was selected as one of Australia's 15-man World Cup squad on January 11, 2015. He appeared in all but one of Australia's World Cup matches, although Australia went on to win the tournament.

Watson got off to a rocky start to his World Cup campaign, getting a first ball duck in Australia's first match of the tournament against England, but losing to New Zealand in a losing cause. Watson was dropped for Australia's match against Afghanistan due to his poor form, and was replaced by James Faulkner. However, he was recalled for Australia's next match against Sri Lanka, scoring 67 off 41 runs and taking 1/71 off 7 overs as Australia defeated by 64 runs. As Australia defeated Scotland by 7 wickets and qualified for the knockout stage, Watson took 24 runs from 23 runs and 1/18 off three overs.

Watson was at the forefront of a spectacular bowling spell from Wahab Riaz, a spell that earned Riaz accolades from many cricketers past and present, with Michael Clarke referring to Riaz's efforts as the "best spell of bowling by a foreigner on Aussie soil for years." Watson took his 64th wickets with 97 balls to spare after being dropped by Rahat Ali at square leg at 4 runs.

Watson was a member of the Commonwealth of Australia's 95 run semi-final victory over India, with Watson scoring 28 runs from 30 balls. Watson was in the 2015 Cricket World Cup Final, scoring 2 not out as Australia defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets, winning their fifth Cricket World Cup as a result.

Watson was named T20I captain and became one of the few Australians to captain in all three formats on Monday, kicking off the innings with a 124*, a record that included becoming the first Australian batsman to score a century in all three modes of the game.

In 2016, he retired from international cricket and became Australia's golden age of the early 2000s. On January 23, 2017, he was named Australia's T20 International Player of the Year.

He was elected President of the Australian Cricketers' Union in November 2019.

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Awards

• Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year: 2002
• Australian ODI Player of the Year: 2010, 2011, 2012
• Australian Twenty20 Player of the Year: 2012, 2013, 2017
• Australian Test Player of the Year: 2011
• Allan Border Medal: 2010, 2011
• McGilvray Medal 2010