Twizzle said:
How good did this kid bat against NSW in the I&G Cup on Saturday.
I have not seen such crisp hitting since Dean Jones in his prime....When he starts to get back into his bowling, I don't think it will be long before we see him back in the Australian ODI team.
It presents another dilemma for the selectors doesn't it? Once again you have the choice between an older player (Harvey) and a player touted as the future of Australian cricket (Watson).
Watson's performances prior to his injury last summer showed a lot of promise. At that stage neither Symonds nor Harvey were showing any signs of form. With the loss of Shane Lee as a back up to this in recent times, Watson had emerged as a possibilitity to take that allrounder role.
Fortunately for Australia, Symonds finally showed his batting brilliance, and while his bowling is still ordinary his batting can often compensate for poor form with the ball.
Watson's batting is his strength, but in order to get into the OD team this summer he will need either some injuries to key personnel, his bowling form to return, or preferably both.
In the bowling department he comes up against Lee, Bichel and co for the number 7 or eight spot. Harvey's international batting is woeful, and despite some recent hints of good form, his bowling still isn't acceptable. Perhaps Watson's bowling, when it returns, will be the deciding factor in his selection. He didn't bowl on the weekend which tells me that he is a long way off being an international bowler again.
Either he starts producing some big batting performances, or his bowling will need to enter the fray as an extra incentive to pick him. At any rate, Clarke's bowling form is sufficient to select him as an allrounder and play an extra paceman. Likewise Katich (although I'm still not convinced of his bowling abilities, but the stats tell otherwise).
We may be looking at a ODI side like this:
Gilchrist
Hayden
Ponting
Symonds
Martyn
Clarke
Bevan
Bichel/Harvey/Hogg/Williams
Lee
Gillespie
Bracken
This is assuming Lehmann and McGrath are still out.