Shane Watson would consider giving up bowling if he fires with the bat..
Christian Nicolussi The Daily Telegraph February 06, 2013 12:00AM
IF SHANE Watson enjoys immediate success with the bat, he may have bowled his last ball in anger on the international stage.
Watson will make his return for Australia in the third one-dayer against the West Indies in Canberra today, his first international hitout since he broke down with a calf injury in the Boxing Day Test.
While he will not bowl in Australia or in the tour of India, he will roll the arm over towards the back end of the Indian Premier League with the Rajasthan Royals.
That would serve as the perfect springboard into the Champions Trophy in June, he said, and, should all go to plan, allow him to bowl in the Ashes.
However, should Watson make an instant impact with the bat, he told The Daily Telegraph he could abandon bowling altogether for the sake of staying on the park.
After all, Watson more than held his own for Australia as only a batsman during the 2009 Ashes.
Watson's comments came just hours after captain Michael Clarke said his vice-captain would face stiffer competition to retain his Test spot if he wasn't bowling.
Asked about abandoning bowling altogether for the remainder of his career, Watson said after training at Manuka Oval: "It has been something I've thought about, no doubt, especially after Boxing Day when things went wrong again.
"I do love bowling, and that's the reason I continue to keep having a crack at it.
"But if it gets to the stage where I feel like I'm hitting the ball really well, and bowling is giving me more of a chance of getting injured and injured significantly, it might get to the stage where that happens.
"Over the next three months, hopefully with the build-up and the work I'm doing, it will give me a better chance to handle the amount of bowling the team wants me to do."
Watson cleaned up Australia's Twenty20 player of the year at Monday's Allan Border Medal, but said it was a minor consolation after a string of injuries had kept him sidelined.
If Australia are any chance to win the Champions Trophy in June, Watson's bowling will be crucial. His handy effort with the bat and ball almost single-handedly helped Australia reach the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka last September.
Watson, 31, said he had organised with Rajasthan 10 months ago to miss the first fortnight of the IPL to rest. It has since worked out well given the pending arrival of his first child with wife Lee.
He was keen to get back amongst the runs, even though they had been hard to come by in club cricket and for NSW the past fortnight.
Clarke yesterday maintained Watson's "greatest asset" was as an all-rounder, and was easily one of the country's top six batsmen across all three forms when "at the top of his game".
"(But) I would love to see him as an all-rounder because I think he is one of the best all-rounders in the world," Clarke said.
