http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Watson-c2558 getting comfortable at number 3 - Cricket News Update
Australian batsman Shane Watson, who spent most of his career at the top of the Test batting order as an opener for the national side, has admitted that he is finally adjusting to having been moved down to the number three position.
“(Initially) I was quite hesitant ... I'd only known about success at the top of the order,” Watson said in conversation with
Fox Sports News.
“The only time I'd batted down the order I hadn't had that much success at the start of my career.”
Watson missed the majority of the Australian team’s last summer, owing to hamstring and calf injuries sustained in 2011. He made a comeback to the team for their tour of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 in March this year, which saw him moved down the batting order to number
three, with new finds http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andrew-Graham-Downton-c44379 Cowan featuring as the Aussies’ new openers.
The new opening partnership showed signs of promise during the Commonwealth Bank series http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 hosted in February this year, and was retained for the following Test fixtures.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 served as stand-in skipper and opener for the team in the 5-match ODI series, and after a shaky start, which saw him registering scores such as 21 and 25, he ended by contributing a half-century (66) in the series finale.
When it came to Tests, the all-rounder admitted, despite his initial hesitation, that he was grateful to have found a place in the squad at all, after having been out of action for so long. Watson seemed to settle into the role during the Aussies’ 3-match
Test series against the Windies, registering scores such as 52, 56, and 41.
“Batting three in Test cricket was actually something really good because it gave me a little bit of mental time to just sort of settle and not actually have to run back out there to bat after we've bowled,” he explained.
“… physically it just gave me that little bit of time to be able to recover and re-assess and get ready to go to bat,” he added, claiming that he was appreciative of his new position from that perspective.
The 30-year-old’s contributions at number three are likely to serve his team well as they prepare to host http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 for extended-overs series later this year.
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