Watson's selection no longer elementary for Australia

MELBOURNE Feb 19 (Online):  The perennial fitness battles of Shane Watson are likely to rule the all-rounder out of Australia's second test against South Africa. Selectors are unlikely to be crying. Watson's unique ability to hog the spotlight whether playing or languishing injured on the sidelines may be unmatched in test cricket, but another win for Australia in Port Elizabeth could put the 32-year-old's career at a cross-roads. Struggling to recover from yet another calf injury, Watson trained apart from the team on Tuesday. 

One of the game's great survivors, the barrel-chested Queenslander has clawed his way back into the team after each breakdown, but his place in Michael Clarke's team has rarely seemed so precarious.  Like so many times before, Watson's injury in the leadup to the first test at Centurion disrupted Australia's plans, forcing selectors to hastily reshuffle the team, blood a debutant in Alex Doolan and fly in test exile Shaun Marsh. Unlike times past, Watson's replacements proved their worth as Marsh scored an important century and number three batsman Doolan a defiant second innings 89 against South Africa's vaunted pace attack, helping to set up a thumping 281-run win over the world's top-ranked test nation. 

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The Australian public has long been accustomed to the soap opera-like intrigue surrounding the player's fitness, but has become increasingly weary of the line that a half-fit Watson is better than no Watson at all. "It remains an unexplained mystery why Watson, at 32 and with such an agonisingly prolonged history of injury breakdowns, can just come and go from the Australian team virtually at his own discretion," cricket pundit Kim Hagdorn wrote in a column published by News Ltd media. "He seemingly walks back in whenever he decides he is fit and ahead of other contenders who have to overcome searching selection claims with performances at the minor and pathway levels to the privilege of playing with the nation's highest profile sporting outfit." Australia coach and selector Darren Lehmann has declined to back Watson's return to the side, even if fit.  "It's very hard to fit him in if you're winning," Lehmann said this week.

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 "We have to see what the wicket's like, whether we need that extra bowling option." Once deemed essential to give Australia's pace attack a rest by tying up an end and taking a timely wicket with his medium pacers, Watson took only two wickets from his 85.3 overs in the northern Ashes series. The resurgence of Mitchell Johnson and endurance of fellow paceman Ryan Harris, also no stranger to injury troubles, saw Watson bowled sparingly in the return Ashes series Down Under. 

Lehmann has cast doubt on Watson's selection on the strength of his batting alone, however, which has yielded only four centuries from 51 matches. Batting at number three, Watson scored 345 runs at an average of 38.33 in the return Ashes series, but the runs flowed largely when the hosts had their foot on England's throat.  Deciding on a solid number three has been Australia's bugbear since the retirement of former captain Ricky Ponting over a year ago, and Clarke's lavish praise for Doolan may not be music to Watson's ears. "Alex certainly looked comfortable at test level," Clarke wrote in his News Ltd column on Wednesday. "He played South Africa's quality pace attack exceptionally well on a very difficult wicket. "Alex knew exactly what was expected of him when we walked on to Centurion Park, and performed accordingly."  

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Australia has worked hard to groom all-rounders Moises Henriques and James Faulkner, with the latter denied a possible start at Centurion after breaking down with a knee injury before the tour. With Watson sidelined and Henriques 12th man, spectators at Centurion were treated to the novel sight of opener David Warner flinging down some medium pacers rather than his rough-and-ready legspin. "They're coming out alright," paceman Peter Siddle said of Warner's work in the nets. Once condemned as "sometimes" a team player by Cricket Australia's high performance chief Pat Howard, Watson has been studiously giving Henriques pointers in South Africa. If Australia continue to cover their bases in Port Elizabeth, however, Watson's contributions may be limited to the sidelines. –

Dhoni sees 'plenty of improvement' since 8-0

 Following the drawn second Test in Wellington, India have now failed to win even one of their past 14 away Tests going back to June 2011. They endured eight straight defeats in England and Australia in 2011-12 but this current side of young batsmen halted that streak with a thrilling draw against South Africa in Johannesburg in December last year. 

They then lost in Durban and Auckland before failing to convert a strong position in Wellington. MS Dhoni felt his team was continually getting better and would hopefully reach a point where they would start generating victories away from home. "I am someone who speaks more about the process rather than thinking just about the results," Dhoni said. "We played after a long break outside the subcontinent. If you compare those two series [0-8] with the last few we have played, there is plenty of improvement. That's what it's all about. 

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You want to keep improving to a stage where you start converting those good situations into better starts and start capitalising on it. So far you may say we haven't capitalised on the kind of starts when it came to our batting department, but still there is plenty of improvement. I will take that and move on to the next series." India did not win a single game out of the 11 completed matches in South Africa and New Zealand. Dhoni said India kept getting ahead in New Zealand but could not make that advantage count with victories on the board. However, he felt there are still plenty of encouraging signs from this tour, even compared to South Africa. "The ODIs were disappointing to some extent, especially the New Zealand part. South Africa, you can always say we didn't get enough time to prepare ourselves and in a three-match series, it is difficult to come back. But [in] New Zealand there were instances where we could have capitalised on the kind of starts we got or if we had a good partnership in the middle, but we failed to do that. "We saw a glimpse of that in the Test match also. 

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In the last Test match also, in the second innings, we bowled fantastically well to come back into the series. Then when we were batting, I felt we had a good partnership going but we lost wickets at the wrong time and that put the pressure back on ourselves. That's one part where we will have to improve. "Often it's not about how much runs you have scored," Dhoni said. "It's often about what kind of cricket you are playing. You may get a good ball and you may get out. But at times, back home what happens is if you score a fifty, you are in form and batting well. But that's not the reality. A batsman who is batting well may score 30 runs and may get out to a very good delivery.

 As a batting unit, we have done well and we have shown improvement. "But what's important is to be more consistent. All batsmen have got one good innings in the last four Tests. If we can improve that and make it maybe two or three, then the situation of the team really improves. That's one area where we will have to improve, and definitely that seems like something where we will definitely improve in the future." 

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One positive from the New Zealand tour was that Shikhar Dhawan showed he could score big at the top of the order in Tests outside India, with 115 in Auckland and 98 in Wellington. While his partner M Vijay could not get going, Dhoni was pleased with the "vast" progress of his openers in difficult conditions. "It will always be tough, the reason being it is not easy especially with the Kookaburra ball. It does a lot initially even if the wickets are flat. It is always difficult for the openers and that is where experience to some extent really counts. You only get experience as you play more and more cricket. Considering their frame of mind how it was in South Africa, I think slowly there has been vast improvement, how they are preparing themselves for the games. 

Actually, Vijay in the nets has been batting really well. He has not been able to convert or take that into the match but he is looking really good. Shikhar again I think he batted well. He got big runs. It is really important he maintains himself in the same way, figures out how he needs to plan to be successful outside the subcontinent and what will be important is to back yourself to play the kind of cricket you really play." 

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Also comforting Dhoni was the intensity shown in New Zealand by the leader of his bowling attack, Zaheer Khan. The swing bowler had appeared spent in South Africa after sending down more than 60 overs in Johannesburg, but he was sharp through the 67 overs he had to bowl in Wellington, which included figures of 51-13-170-5 in the second innings. Dhoni said it was good to see Zaheer taking wickets, and added that is what the team would need from him regularly, in addition to the mentoring role he performs.

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