I'm a whole new ball player, says Watson

Shane Watson has warned his admirers to expect a vastly improved specimen from the precocious youngster who last played for Australia 16 months ago.

Once groomed as his country's next big all-round thing, Watson has spent the past year reinventing his game after back stress fractures forced him away from the bowling crease for nine months and out of a World Cup in which he had been earmarked to star. Now 22, he was left out of the series-opener against Zimbabwe but is expected to make his much-anticipated return in Thursday's second match in Harare.

"I started from scratch so my technique has definitely improved," Watson said of his bowling.

And as for his batting? "My batting has improved out of sight. That's why I'm really excited about coming back here because I know I'm a much better player than when I got injured."

He gave ample evidence of that last summer, slamming four first-class tons and averaging 54 for Tasmania.

To date, he has shown glimpses of promise without ever dominating the international stage. He averages under a wicket a game with the ball and has sometimes lacked fluency with the bat; a strike-rate of 67 offers substantial room for improvement. "I'm very excited about proving to myself that I am a much better player," he told the Courier-Mail .

Australia's captain Ricky Ponting believes the team, too, is capable of significant improvement after their underwhelming first-up win over the supposedly incompetent Zimbabweans. "We batted really well [but] we weren't as sharp as we could have been in the field," he said.

"A lot of the guys haven't played cricket for a couple of months, so it was a good game to get under our belt. We should do better next time around."

Roughly translated, that means: Zimbabwe, look out!