Shane Watson      

Hulklike, blond and spiky-haired, Shane Watson should be the shiny embodiment of modern-day Australian cricket - if only that body didn't keep cracking up. Vivacious in all departments, he was the quintessential young man in a hurry. As a boy he played for Queensland Under-17s at 15, then went to the Academy. As a youth he upped and fled to Tasmania, desperate to gatecrash first-class cricket. Within five games he had clubbed his maiden hundred; within a year he was picked for Australia. Talent-spotted with the 2003 World Cup in mind, he ultimately missed out with stress fractures of the back - the same injury that riddled his teenage years and flared again late in 2008. Until then his batting ...

Hulklike, blond and spiky-haired, Shane Watson should be the shiny embodiment of modern-day Australian cricket - if only that body didn't keep cracking up. Vivacious in all departments, he was the quintessential young man in a hurry. As a boy he played for Queensland Under-17s at 15, then went to the Academy. As a youth he upped and fled to Tasmania, desperate to gatecrash first-class cricket. Within five games he had clubbed his maiden hundred; within a year he was picked for Australia. Talent-spotted with the 2003 World Cup in mind, he ultimately missed out with stress fractures of the back - the same injury that riddled his teenage years and flared again late in 2008. Until then his batting had lacked nothing in swagger and only a little in gap-finding artifice, while his bowling looked willing if docile. Apart from a nude photoshoot in an arty men's mag he faded swiftly from view, bouncing back in 2003-04 with four hundreds from No. 4 for Tasmania. He smashed an unbeaten 300, too, in a club game for Lindisfarne; then, irked by opposition attempts to thwart him reaching his triple, immediately ripped out 7 for 29.

Watson remains the cleanest of hitters and, several remodelled actions later, decidedly sharp with the ball. Back at home in Queensland (he hated the cold), he tried to become Australia's next champion allrounder, before switching to New South Wales for 2009 to be closer to his partner. "He has all the attributes," noted Alan Davidson in 2002. "A fine physical specimen, good athlete; just give him time." Picked for his first Test in 2004-05, he landed face-down after his opening delivery before finding his feet with Younis Khan's wicket and 31 runs. He didn't play in Australia's Ashes defeat, but his stock rose in the aftermath, as Andrew Flintoff highlighted the benefits of a genuine allrounder. The following season was ruined by a partial dislocation of his shoulder when fielding just minutes after his second Test wicket against West Indies, and he watched his good mate Andrew Symonds fill in during his rehabilitation.

Picked for the one-day tour of South Africa, he missed a return to the Test squad, but a fine 201 in the Pura Cup final demolition of Victoria eased one pain and created another when he hurt his leg. Locked into Australia's one-day team as an opener - he survived food poisoning, which he feared was a heart attack, during a strong Champions Trophy campaign - and lined up as the Test allrounder, he was again floored when his body faltered. A persistent hamstring injury destroyed his 2006-07 Ashes dreams and forced him to wait until the end of the summer to seal his World Cup berth. This time a calf problem interrupted his tournament, but he still managed to make an impressive mark with his batting and fielding - the run-out of AB de Villiers in St Kitts was outstanding. In six innings spent mostly in the lower order, he was dismissed only once and showed power and innovation in clouting 145 runs at a strike-rate of 170.

The bargain of the Indian Premier League, Watson, who sold for US$125,000, was the Player of the Tournament for his 472 runs and 17 wickets, a haul which proved to the national selectors he had recovered from yet another hamstring strain. After India he was due to have a holiday in the Maldives before heading to Hampshire, but instead jetted to the West Indies as Matthew Hayden's replacement. He appeared in all five one-day matches, scoring his first international century and collecting at least a wicket per game. Watson received praise for his performances in India, after he scored 170 runs and took 10 wickets in his first full series with the Test side, and played a home game in Brisbane before being dropped. During his time with the team he picked up more stress fractures in his back, but he starred in his comeback against Pakistan playing as a specialist ODI batsman. He is desperate to return to his all-round duties - and stay healthy - and will get a chance during the Ashes.
Cricinfo staff May 2009