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Full name Shane Robert Watson
Born June 17, 1981, Ipswich, Queensland
Current age 26 years 336 days
Major teams Australia, Hampshire, Queensland, Rajasthan Royals, Tasmania
Nickname Watto
Playing role All-rounder
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Height 1.83 m

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	3	4	0	81	31	20.25	212	38.20	0	0	8	0	0
ODIs	65	47	18	1001	79	34.51	1251	80.01	0	7	81	15	15
T20Is	2	1	0	4	4	4.00	6	66.66	0	0	0	0	0
First-class	62	107	14	4377	203*	47.06			12	20			48
List A	127	106	25	2819	132	34.80	3622	77.82	2	18			33
Twenty20	24	22	7	610	97*	40.66	405	150.61	0	6	56	26	8

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	3	4	186	123	2	1/25	1/25	61.50	3.96	93.0	0	0	0
ODIs	65	61	2593	2115	62	4/39	4/39	34.11	4.89	41.8	2	0	0
T20Is	2	2	38	54	2	1/19	1/19	27.00	8.52	19.0	0	0	0
First-class	62		5757	3379	112	6/32		30.16	3.52	51.4		2	1
List A	127		4338	3673	101	4/39	4/39	36.36	5.08	42.9	2	0	0
Twenty20	24	18	399	449	24	3/30	3/30	18.70	6.75	16.6	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	Australia v Pakistan at Sydney, Jan 2-5, 2005 scorecard
Last Test	Australia v West Indies at Brisbane, Nov 3-6, 2005 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	South Africa v Australia at Centurion, Mar 24, 2002 scorecard
Last ODI	Australia v Sri Lanka at Bridgetown, Apr 28, 2007 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg, Feb 24, 2006 scorecard
Last T20I	Australia v Sri Lanka at Cape Town, Sep 20, 2007 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	2000/01
Last First-class	Victoria v Queensland at Melbourne, Mar 7-9, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	2000/01
Last List A	Queensland v Western Australia at Brisbane, Feb 16, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Essex v Hampshire at Chelmsford, Jul 2, 2004 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers at Jaipur, May 17, 2008 scorecard

Profile

Hulklike, blond and spiky-haired, Shane Watson should be the shiny embodiment of modern-day Australian cricket - if only that body didn't keep cracking up. Vivacious in all departments, he was the quintessential young man in a hurry. As a boy he played for Queensland Under-17s at 15, then went to the Academy. As a youth he upped and fled to Tasmania, desperate to gatecrash first-class cricket. Within five games he had clubbed his maiden hundred; within a year he was picked for Australia. Talent-spotted with the 2003 World Cup in mind, he ultimately missed out with stress fractures of the back - the same injury that riddled his teenage years. Until then his batting had lacked nothing in swagger and only a little in gap-finding artifice, while his bowling looked willing if docile. Apart from a nude photoshoot in an arty men's mag he faded swiftly from view, bouncing back in 2003-04 with four hundreds from No. 4 for Tasmania. He smashed an unbeaten 300, too, in a club game for Lindisfarne; then, irked by opposition attempts to thwart him reaching his triple, immediately ripped out 7 for 29.

Watson remains the cleanest of hitters and, several remodelled actions later, decidedly sharp with the ball. Back at home in Queensland (he hated the cold), he is still trying to become Australia's next champion allrounder. "He has all the attributes," noted Alan Davidson in 2002. "A fine physical specimen, good athlete; just give him time." Picked for his first Test in 2004-05, he landed face-down after his opening delivery before finding his feet with Younis Khan's wicket and 31 runs. He didn't play in Australia's Ashes defeat, but his stock rose in the aftermath, as Andrew Flintoff highlighted the benefits of a genuine allrounder. The following season was ruined by a partial dislocation of his shoulder when fielding just minutes after his second Test wicket against West Indies, and he watched his good mate Andrew Symonds fill in during his rehabilitation.

Picked for the one-day tour of South Africa, he missed a return to the Test squad, but a fine 201 in the Pura Cup final demolition of Victoria eased one pain and created another when he hurt his leg. Locked into Australia's one-day team as an opener - he survived food poisoning, which he feared was a heart attack, during a strong Champions Trophy campaign - and lined up as the Test allrounder, he was again floored when his body faltered. A persistent hamstring injury destroyed his Ashes dreams and forced him to wait until the end of the summer to seal his World Cup berth. This time a calf problem interrupted his tournament, but he still managed to make an impressive mark with his batting and fielding - the run-out of AB de Villiers in St Kitts was outstanding. In six innings spent mostly in the lower order, he was dismissed only once and showed power and innovation in clouting 145 runs at a strike-rate of 170. Watson's bowling needs to develop further to be rated above useful, and confidence in his fitness would make the assignment much easier.
Cricinfo staff August 2007