Tale of a tortured allrounder

It’s merely the latest in a string of setbacks throughout an on-again, off-again international career, and inevitably it again prompts the question: will Shane Watson ever shake that most unwanted of sporting tags: injury prone?

Ironically, it was at Centurion – the scene of next week’s first Test against South Africa, the latest match he has had to withdraw from – that Watson first played an international for Australia, in March of 2002.

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He’d burst onto the scene as a baby-faced 21-year-old, with a reputation for bowling at 140 clicks, having a textbook batting technique, and hitting a long ball.

If there was a question mark on the young allrounder, it was a prophetic one: could a body that had already been savaged by back stress fractures throughout his youth stand up to the constant rigours of international cricket?

Watson knew it as well as anyone. His solution was to get himself in the gym and work harder than anyone. Certainly, work ethic has never been an issue.

He built himself up to the point that his physique resembled more a rugby league player than a cricketer.

The frame, together with the blond locks of his younger years, earned him the ‘Prince Charming’ moniker, after the character from Shrek.

But despite being selected to make his Test debut against Pakistan in January 2005, Watson’s career continued to be more frustration than fairytale.

In later years, Watson would refine his training regimen, having linked up with trainers who determined much of his earlier gym work to be largely counterproductive to the demands of a medium fast bowler. He focused on bowling-specific exercises, increasing his core strength with the aim of injury prevention forever at the forefront of his intentions.

Yet still he continued to find himself on the sidelines.

The numbers are more unflattering than perhaps they should be, given there were times he was available for selection but was simply overlooked, however they still tell a forlorn tale.

Since Watson made that ODI debut in March 2002, Australia have played 334 50-over matches. Watson has played in 173 of them – just 51.8 per cent.

It’s a similar story in the five-day game; since Watson debuted in January ’05, Australia have played 103 Test matches. Watson has played in 51 of those, or just 49.5 per cent.

By way of example, Australia captain Michael Clarke – himself plagued by a chronic back injury – has played in 94 of those 103 Tests.

The portents were there from the outset.

Watson missed the 2003 World Cup with more stress fractures in his back. In November ’05, just 10 months after his Test debut, he suffered a partial dislocation of the shoulder in a Test at the Gabba against West Indies.

In fact Clarke himself was actually a beneficiary of Watson’s fickle frame. The two were vying for the No.6 position in Australia’s Test team (along with Andrew Symonds) ahead of the 2006-07 Ashes, when Watson strained his hamstring, ruling himself out of what was to become an historic whitewash. Clarke meanwhile, scored centuries in Adelaide and Perth, and never looked back.

The calf, hamstring and back injuries became recurring themes. Constant niggles that restricted his bowling and saw him focus more on hitting the seam than producing the outright speed of his youth.

It was a hamstring injury that kept Watson out of action for six Tests against New Zealand and India in 2011-12, while the following summer, he missed two of the three Tests in Australia’s most recent showdown with South Africa, with a calf problem again to blame for his absence from the matches in Brisbane and Adelaide.

Australia thumped the Indians four-nil, however his presence would have been helpful against South Africa, with both missed matches ending drawn despite the home side having their chances (Brisbane) or failing to close out the contest (Adelaide).

By 2013, the situation reached a head .The solution? Watson would put his hand up for selection as a batsman only for Australia’s ill-fated tour of India.  

It didn’t last. With a full return to fitness came renewed hope. Watson was thrown the ball by captain Clarke again throughout both Ashes series.

Typically, he returned some economical spells, with the occasional wicket.

Yet predictably, it was tempting fate.

While carefully monitored by team physio Alex Kountouris, Watson bravely played through pain in his calf during the most recent Ashes series – just as he had done in the 2007 World Cup and, undoubtedly, many times in between.

South Africa, and the first Test at Centurion, was a bridge too far, yet if history is any indication, Shane Watson will be back, broken body and all.

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