Wise Watson relaxes amid fast-bowling chaos

As the longest-serving international player in Australia’s 17-man Ashes squad, Shane Watson knows better than to invest energy and angst into situations beyond his control.

The allrounder has been a fixture in national colours for so long that in his one-day international debut he batted one berth below his current national coach, Darren Lehmann, who played his last game for Australia more than a decade ago.

So with Watson’s place in Australia’s Test line-up once more the topic of nuanced discussion and not-quite-so-rational social media diatribes, speculation has surfaced that the veteran might have been silently cursing as his batting partner and rival allrounder Mitch Marsh blasted an explosive century last weekend.

But camped down the non-striker’s end as the young man billed as the Test allrounder – indeed, in some eyes the Test captain – of the not-so-distant future rained sixes upon the awe-filled crowd at Canterbury’s Spitfire Park, Watson was enjoying the show rather than feeling the pressure.

“In the end, being in and around these situations before, I know you can’t worry about things too much at all,” Watson reflected today when asked how he felt as the man who has eyes on his Test berth held the gaze of everyone at day three of Australia’s tour match against Kent.

Quick Single: All-round Marsh smashes century

“All that matters for me was being able to spend some quality time in the middle.

“It’s great to be able to see Mitch bat the way he did – that’s what he does.

“He’s a powerful young man.

“But from my perspective, I was just going out there trying to score some runs, spend some time in the middle that I hadn’t in four-day cricket or five-day cricket for a while.

“I’d love to be able to be part of the first Test match (against England starting in Cardiff on July 8) but I’m well past worrying about where things are at.

“I’m just incredibly happy to be here on an Ashes series with the squad we have.

“There’s a lot of spots up for grabs as well because we’ve got such an incredibly strong squad so I know there’s going to be guys who miss out or other ones who get opportunities as well.

“It’s just the great strength we have in this squad.”

Quick Single: Watson hits back at quick’s taunt

Watson and Marsh both have a final opportunity to settle the debate as to whether it should be the incumbent or the impending allrounder who gets the nod for the Ashes opener in Wales when the tourists begin their final warm-up fixture against county team Essex on Chelmsford tomorrow (Wed).

While Watson mounted a persuasive case with his 81 that admittedly dulled in comparison to Marsh’s pyrotechnics in last Saturday’s second innings, it was his inability to bowl throughout that four-day game that became the focal point of discussions.

Quick Single: Watson rested from bowling hit-out

The 34-year-old, who Lehmann confirmed will bowl in the upcoming game against Essex, claimed today he was not carrying an injury but had simply consulted team medical staff about the workload he has carried in recent months and was given dispensation to play as a batsman only in the tour opener.

“It was more trying to manage my body,” Watson said of his absence from the bowling crease at Canterbury where Marsh took a wicket in each innings.

“I have been playing just about non-stop for eight months and bowling all the way through that.

“So it’s more just trying to manage the body as well as we can knowing that, if I can get a bit of batting time in the middle hopefully in that last tour match (against Kent) and just build up my bowling again throughout this next tour match (against Essex).

“So I’m very grateful that the coaching staff and selectors, and also the medical staff just gave me that bit of extra time and allow me to regenerate even while I’m still playing, and to be able to spend some time in the middle (without the rigours of bowling).

“It’s nice to get a bit of down time and then build my bowling back up again.”

Watson and Marsh are not the only players with significant incentive to impress Lehmann and chair of his selection panel Rod Marsh at the ground where a young Alastair Cook announced himself to Ashes onlookers when Australia played at Chelmsford as the penultimate stop of their failed 2005 campaign.

Having been rested from the Kent fixture, the new-ball pairing from the recent second Test in Jamaica – Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – will share pace bowling responsibilities with Watson and another veteran Ryan Harris with all four eyeing a Test spot in Cardiff.

Quick Single: Few clues as Lehmann names XI for Essex

Hazlewood, man of the series in the Caribbean just a few weeks ago, knows that as the youngest and least experienced member of the troupe he also finds himself having to prove his worth despite his recent performances.

“We know it’s going to be a tough decision when we get to Cardiff, we know five (aspirants) doesn’t go into three (pace bowling places) and probably a couple of guys are going to miss out,” he said today.

“So this is probably going to be a pretty important game this week here in Essex for ‘Starcy’ and myself to put some more numbers on the board.

“That’s all we can really do is keep pushing our claim for a spot and keep taking wickets as we did in the West Indies and in the Tests (against India in Australia) before that.”

For Starc, man of the tournament in Australia’s ICC World Cup victory earlier in the year, it is a chance to finally get the English-made Duke brand ball that he so likes in his hand in a match environment.

With Mitchell Johnson all but assured of a place in the XI for the first Test, and Peter Siddle unlikely to force his way back into the team despite bowling tidily against Kent, the three quicks involved over the coming days will be targeting two remaining berths.

That is certainly how Starc views it, even though he is regarded by many astute judges as among the most potent bowlers in world cricket today.

“It's another opportunity to try and put your name forward,” the left-armer said today. “We’re trying to get some competitive cricket before that first Test and we've got 17 guys who can still play (at Cardiff).

“I’m not a selector (and) I’m not sure how close they are to naming a team for that first Test, so it's a big opportunity for these 11 guys to score a lot of runs and take a lot of wickets.”