Melbourne, August 14: A Rueful Shane Watson concedes he has been distracted by thoughts of carving out a maiden Test hundred in his past three innings, thus falling shortly after scoring half-centuries.
The candid revelation by Australia’s new opener was as surprising as his admission that the team’s hierarchy told him Brett Lee was not match fit for Headingley before he entered a press conference last week, causing much angst for the overlooked paceman, who then contradicted Watson’s statements by declaring his fitness in an ensuing chat with journalists shortly after.
The pair have apparently settled their differences. Now it is time for Watson to settle his issues with the century barrier. His scores of 62, 53 and 51 – in his first three innings as a Test opener – were indicative of a highly capable batsman but he must now show the boldness to compile a big total.
”My dream as a young kid was to get a Test hundred, I was lucky enough to get an ODI hundred and my goal and my dream is to get a Test hundred,” Watson said.
”The issue has been that once I got to 50 I was getting a bit far ahead of myself, rather than worrying about the next ball and concentrating on that. It has been a mental thing that I have to get over.
”I’ve been able to put a finger on the things that I have been doing that normally I haven’t been doing. You have to get through the new ball which is the most important thing because you can get knocked over, but I’ve put my finger on exactly what it is. It means so much to me to get my first hundred that I have been wanting it too much.
”I identified it myself. I sat down after this [past Test at Headingley] and thought, ‘Why is this happening?’ It was because I was thinking about my score and when I’ve got big scores I’ve just been thinking about batting time. I know if I bat long periods of time, I will get a big score. When I think about the score I get a bit nervous and it all goes awry.”
With a highest score of 78 and an average of 26.43, it’s little wonder Watson gets giddy at the thought of cracking the magic number, but after recalling a conversation with one of the country’s most successful openers the 28-year-old believes he has found a simplified approach as the final Ashes Test looms.
”It’s a mental barrier I have to get over,” Watson said. ”I know a way that has worked in the past is just batting time. I remember talking to Matt Hayden about when he was in his peak in 2002 and he said when he batted best he was just thinking about time.
——Agencies