Cricket Australia Fan!

Shane Watson has a tough competition as time is running out for him. In the past couple of years he’s in the playing XI mostly because of his experienced and the selectors say he adds a lot to the side. Let’s have a look at his numbers.

 Watson’s Test average is 35.40 in 58 Tests. He is quite experienced but the average of 35 for a top order batsman in Tests is just not sufficient enough. In 2014 he averaged 25.80 and he’s averaging 33.25 in 2015 so far with just two fifties and zero hundreds in the last one and a half year. He has his best average when he opens the innings but he has lost that slot as well.

 But his batting average against England is 43.57 and that is pretty decent. He made a comeback in the 2009 Ashes and started off with the scores of 62, 53, 51. He kept on chipping in but couldn’t really score a big knock. His maiden ton against his rivals came in the dead rubber where he smashed 176 at The Oval in 2013. And his second Test ton against England came in the series which England lost 5-0. Apart from that he hasn’t really contributed significantly against England.

 Let’s assume he’s picked in the side because he’s an all-rounder and is a handy pick as a bowler. But he has never picked more than one wicket in an innings against England and he averages 63.66 with the ball against them. He has picked up just 9 Test wickets in 24 Test innings against them. To make his numbers worse, his bowling record in England is quite embarrassing. He averages 114 with the ball in England against his rivals. Yes, 114 as he has just picked 2 wickets in 11 innings there. Out of those 11 innings he was wicketless in 9 of those innings and picked one wicket each in the remaining two innings. He averaged almost 50 with the ball in 2012 and 2013 and averaged almost 70 in 2014.

 Is Shane Watson deserving enough to make it to the Australian XI? What about Mitchell Marsh then? The one who smashed tons in the warm-up matches. I hope he proves me wrong and plays well to help Australia retaining the urn.

Good luck, Watto.

                                 Australian Summer 2014-15

25 matches, 19 wins and 3 defeats – Australia’s record during the big summer 2014/15. These numbers clearly show how dominant Australia were throughout their cricketing summer. Just when you thought the last summer was a special one after a 5-0 Ashes whitewash, the Australian team had some other plans.

Australia started off their campaign with a 2-1 T20I series win against South Africa and then won the ODI series 4-1. So just two defeats in first eight games against a quality team like the Proteas. Australia also became the no. 1 team in ODIs after the series win. Then it was India. But the cricket had to stop for a while. Phillip Hughes passed away. The Australian players lost their best mate. The series was postponed. You simply can’t describe what the players went through.

After that, only good things could have happened. Can’t pick a single moment as a special one. Be it Clarke’s decision to bat and score a wonderful ton. Davey Warner, another close mate of Hughesy registering twin tons. Steven Smith scoring a century. Or Nathan Lyon, who was a part of that NSW-SA game too bowling a match-winning spell to help Australia win.

In the second Test, Mitchell Johnson’s knock with the help of the tail. Or the debutant Josh Hazlewood's 5-for. Or another Steven Smith ton – this time as a captain in his very first stint.

Steven Smith’s ton in the Boxing Day Test. Ryan Harris’ performance with the bat and then with the ball.

Captain Smith’s yet another century in the New Years' Test. Warner’s quickfire ton. Burns’ cameo in the second innings in just his second Test. Australia winning the series and regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Steven Smith’s series aggregate of 769 runs, the most in a Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Four Tests, four centuries. It was all going Australia’s way. There was no stopping them.

Now Starc’s two wickets in the first over of the ODI tri-series versus England. Another Australian win in the summer. Or Mitchell Starc’s yet another match-winning spell of 6/43 at the MCG against India. Steven Smith’s century as an ODI captain this time to help Australia register another win thus becoming the first ever player in the history to score centuries on Test and ODI captaincy debut. No team was able to stop Steven Smith.  Glenn Maxwell’s 95 in the final, not slowing down for a personal milestone once again in his career. Winning the tri-series without losing any game.

Now Aaron Finch’s century at the MCG, his home ground to start off the World Cup campaign on a winning note. Australia’s never-say-attitude while defending a low total against New Zealand. Starc’s almost unplayable spell of 6/28. Then Australia coming back stronger. Posting a record total in World Cups. Warner’s 178 off just 133 balls. Glenn Maxwell’s 88 off 39. Registering the biggest win in World Cups. Clarke’s and Smith’s fifties against Sri Lanka. Or the moment - Glenn Maxwell finally scoring a century with his partner Shane Watson at the other end. Then Starc’s 4/14 against Scotland or Clarke’s decision to open the innings and scoring 47 while chasing a low total.

These moments continued... Shane Watson’s ability to face one of the best spells against Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz after restricting Pakistan to a decent total. Or then Steven Smith once again with a century against India. Scoring over 900 runs against India in the summer. Smith’s ability to knock India out. India coming in Australia as the defending champions and the winner of Border-Gavaskar Trophy but Smith shattering all their hopes and sending them back without any such glory.

 Into the finals and facing a confident New Zealand side and keeping them to a low total. Starc’s first over to McCullum, removing the hard-hitting Kiwi captain for a duck. Warner’s quick fire start and Smith once again with a fifty. Or... the captain’s final ODI innings, scoring a fine fifty to leave the format on a high... by winning the World Cup!!

 All these moments would be unforgettable. Starting the summer with darkness and then finishing off with a World Cup trophy in your hand. Wearing the black armband throughout and performing like champions in every game. All you can say is Australia were the deserving winners. Long live Australia, long live its glory. Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!!

  Summer highlights-

T20I series win against South Africa.

ODI series win against South Africa.

Becoming the no.1 ranked team in ODIs.

Test series win against India, winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy back.

Winning the ODI tri-series, remaining unbeaten.

Winning the World Cup.

Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.