Following Australia's training session at Bellerive Oval on Wednesday,
Watson confirmed that he would move down to No.4 to accommodate the
recalled Phillip Hughes at No.3, and expressed hope that this would be
the post where he would finally settle down as an international
allrounder. It is no coincidence that No.4 is also the spot occupied by
Jacques Kallis, as the coach Mickey Arthur has made no secret of his
desire to have Watson scoring runs with something like the South
African's formidable consistency, while also offering substance with the
ball.
"I think this is more a permanent move. I hope so anyway," Watson said.
"It has certainly tested out what my skills are. I certainly enjoyed
opening but it meant I wasn't really able to bowl that much really,
considering I was going to have to go in and take the first ball. Four
hopefully will suit me really well. I know how important the No.4 spot
is.
"To be able to hopefully set up an innings when the platform has already
been set for me, or come in and hopefully build a big total if we've
lost a few early wickets. It's where I actually started batting when I
was playing first-class cricket when I was younger. It's the position I
probably know the best from a few years back anyway."
For an Australian side desperate to have Watson graduate from the handy
scores he delivered consistently when opening the batting, and the
mediocre ones he has turned out when tried elsewhere in the order, there
is some useful history to his occupation of the position. No.4 was the
site of Watson's highest first-class score, a double-century for
Queensland in a Sheffield Shield final, and the position from which he
first pushed for international selection with Tasmania.
"That's where I batted for Queensland, and it is where I batted for a
bit of my time in Tasmania as well," Watson said. It just gives me that
opportunity to be able to bowl the overs that my body allows me to and
the captain wants [and] to then be able to freshen up and hopefully be
able to bat for a long period of time as well. It'd be nice to be able
to get into a position and make it my own by scoring the runs so that
hopefully they don't really want to move me anywhere else."
Critical to all this will be Watson's attitude, which has been at its
most poised and confident when opening the batting. Regardless of where
Watson bats, many of his innings have followed a familiar pattern of
early free scoring followed by a gradual slowing in momentum and
eventual dismissal for a less than satisfying score. Well aware of the
flaw, Watson said he was determined to fight his way through it at No.4.
"It has been my biggest downfall, in Test cricket especially, once I've
done all the hard work to be able to sustain my intensity at the crease
to be able to get through those periods," Watson said. "I know where
I've been falling down and I'm certainly doing everything I can to hope
that doesn't occur.
Batting in the top four I know how important it
is to be consistent, then the team can rely on you, its not as
hit-and-miss, on your day you have to go on and get a big score and that
is something I need to continue on and improve on and get better at. I
am certainly working hard mentally because I know it's more mental than
technical, because I get through the times when the bowlers are bowling
their best and its about being able to hold that intensity in my mind
over a long period of time."
By shifting Watson again to accommodate Hughes, Australia's captain
Michael Clarke is placing plenty of onus on his deputy to contribute
significantly to the team as it learns to deal with life after Ricky
Ponting. Both leaders followed Ponting in ways during the session,
Clarke taking Hughes, David Warner and Ed Cowan aside for an earnest
chat about batting, while Watson took the former captain's mantle as the
last to conclude training by requesting an extra catching session.
"I have to step up and everyone has to, just around the group he really
has been the heart beat of the group for such a long period of time,"
Watson said of Ponting. "I never took it for granted the impact that he
had on the group, but when he's not there we know a number of us have to
step up to do the things Ricky used to do so naturally. So its
certainly a big time for the senior players who have to fill that void,
but I am not sure if that is ever going to be possible.
"Even at training his energy in the nets, out on the field throwing the
stumps down, catching in the slips, whatever he was doing was at the
highest intensity and that's the reason he was so good. He helped
everyone around him too, he does know the game so intimately, all the
technical aspects of batting and fielding, he always helped you out and
that is going to be sorely missed, he significantly helped me in aspects
of my game. I am certainly staying in contact, he had a huge impact on
my career and if it wasn't for Ricky I wouldn't be in the place I am
today."
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