Shane Watson struggle to make himself a part of bowl:
Shane Watson has bowled 71 first-class overs in the past year. Peter Siddle delivered nearly that many in the Adelaide Test alone. Watson has bowled with the red ball in only one match this summer - the Sheffield Shield game in which he broke down after four overs. Since the start of last season, he has sent down fewer first-class deliveries than Simon Katich. And yet Australia will rely heavily on Watson to ease the workload of the frontline fast men when the Perth Test starts on Friday.
It is easy to forget how little long-form cricket Watson has played in recent times. His presence around the squad, and his omnipresence in Twenty20s and one-dayers around the world never keep him away from a headline or a highlights package. But the decider against South Africa at the WACA will be Watson's first Test on home soil since the disastrous 2010-11 Ashes campaign. How his body will cope remains to be seen, but he is confident that his most recent calf injury is behind him.
"Over the last week I've been gradually building up my running and my bowling," Watson said in Perth on Wednesday. "I bowled six overs in the nets yesterday before we left in Adelaide so I'm certainly going to be up to bowling as many overs as Michael [Clarke] wants and probably the normal sort of workload really that I bowl in a Test match. Things have progressed really well over the past week so I'm ready to go."
It is easy to forget how little long-form cricket Watson has played in recent times. His presence around the squad, and his omnipresence in Twenty20s and one-dayers around the world never keep him away from a headline or a highlights package. But the decider against South Africa at the WACA will be Watson's first Test on home soil since the disastrous 2010-11 Ashes campaign. How his body will cope remains to be seen, but he is confident that his most recent calf injury is behind him.
"Over the last week I've been gradually building up my running and my bowling," Watson said in Perth on Wednesday. "I bowled six overs in the nets yesterday before we left in Adelaide so I'm certainly going to be up to bowling as many overs as Michael [Clarke] wants and probably the normal sort of workload really that I bowl in a Test match. Things have progressed really well over the past week so I'm ready to go."
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