Watson had a solid Test career although I think it is fair to say that he failed to live up to the heights and expectations of his true abilities. Injuries played a big role in this, which saw him in and out of the side during this tenure with Australia - his bowling suffering especially.
In the first six years of his career (2005-2010) he averaged 41.55 with the bat and 31.00 with the ball. Those numbers are not too dissimilar to the likes of Mark Waugh, Brian McMillan and Nathan Astle.
However, from 2011-2015 he wasn't nearly as effective, averaging 30.50 with the bat and 37.09 with the ball.
On the positive side, Watson finishes his career as one of five Australians to have a batting average of at least 35 (minimum 1000 runs) and a bowling average of under 35 (minimum 50 wickets). Conversely, one of the biggest knocks on Watson was his inability to convert fifties into the big scores - he finishes with four centuries from 28 scores in excess of 50, among Australia's all-time top 10 for worst conversion rates for 50 to 100 in Tests.
My favourite memories of Watto (aside from his hilarious usage of the DRS) came during his time with Hampshire in the 2005 season, helping them win the C&G Trophy at Lord's. That 2005 Hampshire team was stacked with the likes of Watto, Kevin Pietersen, Mascarenhas, Bichel, Tremlett, Ervine and Crawley.
His retirement is got more to do with the frustration of getting injured time and again!! He is an excellent all rounder in the modern day cricket.
I still remember vividly the magnificent part played by Watson in making Rajastan Royal's cricket lift the coveted cup of IPL.I do hope he would continue to serve the gam in other ways possible.
[quote author=Rowe992 link=topic=100072.msg654433#msg654433 date=1441653240]
Well no more lbw dismissals to look forward to in the ashes. Watson is a good odi and t20 player so quitting test cricket now is not a big deal.
[/quote]
He has been a poor T20I player over the last two years. Over this period for Australia he has averaged just 14.00 in 11 T20I matches with a high score of 47. He has just 3 scores of 10+ in his 10 innings, and due to his injuries, he is an allrounder in name only, as evidenced by the fact he has taken just 3 wickets in these matches at an average of 70.00.
This guy is always injured and in my opinion is kind of annoying, so he won’t be missed at all. I think his teammates helped him make this decision since the critics have been hard on him. He’s hoping to play the short formats so if there are fans of Watson in here, well no worries. He took the right decision for him and for his team.
[quote author=ketchim link=topic=100072.msg654455#msg654455 date=1441665822]
Watto is a fine all rounder in the Game !
certainly not a Bits and Pieces at a 35+ batting average and 75 Test scalps : 59 Games
a 40 ODI bat avg. with 168 scalps.
Pity he never was given the Captaincy.....
[/quote]
Watson did captain the Test side for one match in 2013 in a losing effort against India. He fared better in a small sample size as the ODI captain, with 5 wins in 9 matches. He was the captain of the Australian side that tied with West Indies back in 2012.
[quote author=ketchim link=topic=100072.msg654455#msg654455 date=1441665822]
Watto is a fine all rounder in the Game !
certainly not a Bits and Pieces at a 35+ batting average and 75 Test scalps : 59 Games
a 40 ODI bat avg. with 168 scalps.
Pity he never was given the Captaincy.....
[/quote]
ketch.
How come you can tell he was a fine all rounder ?
He was good at start of his career,but through the fag end,he was pathetic,more like a freebie wicket.
captainship was never his material.
Even recently in IPL he quit captaincy to concentrate on bowling and batting.
His qualities,figures,were never inspiring as captain buddy.
Watson is a good odi and t20 player so quitting test cricket now is not a big deal.
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