How has Shane Watson fared in the Ashes series?
Shane Watson is one batsman who has been playing for Australia for more than eight years. Watson has always been a good batsman for Australia, and has helped http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 win a number of games. For the past few years his batting has improved a lot, and he has
scored some impressive hundreds for his side. This year he has scored some prolific hundreds against some good sides, and has managed to add more stability to his batting. Shane Watson can easily be labeled as the most improved opener in the Australian side.
After Justin Langer and Mathew Hayden, Watson has secured the opening position in the Australian side quite impressively, and has managed to show a lot of patience in his batting.
The Ashes series has been a roller coaster ride for the Aussie batsmen, as most of them have found it difficult to play the English bowlers with ease. Most of the times the Australians have struggled to convert their starts into huge totals, but Shane Watson
is one batsman who has shown some good form in the Ashes series. Although he is also guilty of not converting his good starts into huge totals, but overall he shown a lot of promise in his batting and has played some impressive knocks.
From the first Test Australia managed to start well in their innings, and their openers have managed to provide them good opening partnerships. However the openers are guilty of throwing away all their hard work, and failing to convert their good starts.
In the Brisbane Test Watson played some impressive shots and showed a lot of character in his batting. In the first innings, he batted well against an in form English attack and played the deliveries on merit. This is the positive change that has come into
his batting, as earlier he used to go after every other ball, but now we see a lot of composure in his batting. He left the ball well in the start of his innings, and did not take any irrational risks. In the second innings, he again batted with a lot of confidence
and did not expose his weaknesses to the bowlers.
After taking a psychological blow in the first Test, Australia needed a strong performance from their batsmen in the Adelaide Test, and Watson was one batsman who was willing to deliver his best. Again he started well in his innings, but he was not able
to take his start forward and was dismissed for 51 runs by Anderson. It was a similar story in the second innings as he scored a gutsy 57 off 141 balls. However he should be commended for the way he played Anderson’s opening spell. Anderson has swung the ball
brilliantly in the series, and was the hero for England in the Adelaide Test. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 used his feet well against Anderson and left the swinging balls on the off side. In both the innings, he struck a lot of boundaries and also placed the ball in gaps.
Apart from Anderson, Watson has played Broad and Steven Finn quite well in the series, and has also managed runs off their bowling. He looked quite solid in his technique and gave a strong response to the England bowlers. If a batsman is batting well, then
it becomes difficult for the bowlers to find ways of getting him out. However Watson has thrown his wicket away on a number of times in the series, and because of a lack of concentration he has not been able to build on his good form with the bat. In the
series, he has played a lot of powerful drives in the extra cover region, and has pulled exceptionally well against the pace bowlers.
In the Perth Test he played a wonderful knock of 95, in which he struck 11 boundaries. It was a very patient innings from the right-hander, and he played all the bowlers on merit. So far Shane Watson has batted well in the Ashes series, and if he can convert
his fifties into hundreds then Australia can build good totals in the remaining two Test matches.
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