by Arthur Crabtree » Mon Sep 07, 2015 11:54 pm
Watson had a curious impact on me as an Aussie player in games against England. At first he seemed a sort of Freddie doll, a pretend facsimile of Flintoff manufactured in his image. And then for a period, after Flintoff's body gave way and in the aftermath of the Ashes 5-0 and the fredalo fiasco, it seemed Watson was going to far outstrip the England all rounder. But I don't think that ever happened.
Given Watson averages 42 versus England against an allcomers 35, I'd expect to feel that he did ok in Ashes contests. If you look at his scores, he had an extraordinary number of strong starts, until something went wrong. The full Watto, from the 2010-11 Ashes series involved his getting involved in his partner's run out, and then getting out shortly afterwards himself, for maximum points, lbw. He got an influential 95 in Perth in the Australian win in that 3-1 home defeat, but mostly perished at the head of a second wave of wickets to the reverse swinging ball.
In the last winning whitewash, his hundred at Perth felt like a proper, leading man contribution, in the first innings. Briefly it seemed like his contributions were coming into focus and his runs didn't need explaining or putting into context. But it was a brief and passing moment. His only other Ashes ton was a big, end of series, dead rubber ton at the Oval, in a Test that became an exhibition game in 2013. He seemed to average 42 in Ashes cricket with little real impact. I'd say his most memorable innings was his eighty-something not out in the whitewash at Melbourne, flailing England's demoralised attack to no great actual end. Third innings runs augmenting a big first innings lead.
It often felt Watson was influential with the ball, tying an end up, taking a wicket, breaking a partnership. But it's odd that he never took more than a 1-fer in the Ashes. Again, his talent doesn't seem to transfer to the page. He never quite found a role in the team in Ashes cricket, for all his brilliant ODI exploits.
I always say that everybody's right.