Shane Watson has announced his retirement from international cricket, 14 years to the day after he first played for Australia. Watson had retired from Test cricket at the end of last year's Ashes tour of England, and he has not played ODIs since September last year; he will now officially depart from Australia's international setup at the end of the ongoing World Twenty20 in India.
Watson's retirement is effectively the final cutting of ties to Australia's dominant era of the early 2000s; he was the last remaining player turning out regularly in any format for Australia who had debuted before 2007, the year of the Warne-McGrath retirements. Watson has also confirmed that he is retiring from first-class cricket, having not played since the Ashes tour.
T20 had yet to be invented when Watson made his international debut in an ODI against South Africa in Centurion on March 24, 2002. He was 20 at the time. Now, on the eve of a crucial World T20 match against Pakistan, at the age of 34 and as a father of two children, Watson has decided that the time has come to move on to another stage of his life.
"One morning I woke up in Dharamsala to the beautiful view and I don't know what it was exactly but I knew now was the right time," Watson said. "I've really enjoyed my time being back in the Australian squad. But it is quite different, none of the other guys I played with growing up are here any more. I've made the right decision. I couldn't really see the light with the all the injuries I had."
Although Watson's Test career was sometimes frustrating for Australian fans and selectors, he was a consistently high performer for his country in the shorter formats. At his peak he reached No.1 on the ICC's T20 international batting rankings and spent two years as the No.1 allrounder; in ODIs he also reached No.1 as an allrounder in 2011, and peaked at No.3 as a batsman.
His clean striking at the top of the order made him a consistent threat as an opening batsman; only Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting struck more sixes for Australia in ODI cricket than Watson, who played far fewer games. As a bowler, he was accurate and reliable, could swing the ball when conditions suited, and provided vital balance to the line-up.
He will finish with 190 one-day internationals to his name for 5757 runs at 40.54, and 168 wickets at 31.79, as well as holding the Australian record for the highest ODI score: his unbeaten 185 against Bangladesh in Dhaka in 2011. Ahead of his final T20 international matches, Watson has 1400 runs at 28.00 from 56 games, and 46 wickets at 24.71.
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Watson's retirement is effectively the final cutting of ties to Australia's dominant era of the early 2000s; he was the last remaining player turning out regularly in any format for Australia who had debuted before 2007, the year of the Warne-McGrath retirements. Watson has also confirmed that he is retiring from first-class cricket, having not played since the Ashes tour.
"One morning I woke up in Dharamsala to the beautiful view and I don't know what it was exactly but I knew now was the right time," Watson said. "I've really enjoyed my time being back in the Australian squad. But it is quite different, none of the other guys I played with growing up are here any more. I've made the right decision. I couldn't really see the light with the all the injuries I had."
Although Watson's Test career was sometimes frustrating for Australian fans and selectors, he was a consistently high performer for his country in the shorter formats. At his peak he reached No.1 on the ICC's T20 international batting rankings and spent two years as the No.1 allrounder; in ODIs he also reached No.1 as an allrounder in 2011, and peaked at No.3 as a batsman.
His clean striking at the top of the order made him a consistent threat as an opening batsman; only Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting struck more sixes for Australia in ODI cricket than Watson, who played far fewer games. As a bowler, he was accurate and reliable, could swing the ball when conditions suited, and provided vital balance to the line-up.
He will finish with 190 one-day internationals to his name for 5757 runs at 40.54, and 168 wickets at 31.79, as well as holding the Australian record for the highest ODI score: his unbeaten 185 against Bangladesh in Dhaka in 2011. Ahead of his final T20 international matches, Watson has 1400 runs at 28.00 from 56 games, and 46 wickets at 24.71.
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