Watto comes to form, but a bit too late

Although no one enjoyed the promotion of Shane Watson to the critical number 3 position, I bet they would have regretted it after a splendid performance by the batsmen which was full of class and power. England came up with a second specialist spinner to the side aside Graeme Swann, Simon Kerrigan. The previous time that England had included two specialist spinners in an Oval Test was in 1996, when Ian Salisbury and Robert Croft claimed combined match figures of 3 for 141 against Pakistan.

Australia won the toss and chose to bat first. There was an early setback for the tourists as their opener David Warner edged one to the keeper in the 5th over itself. After that Shane Watson changed the first session into his own stage. In a patnership of 107 runs, Chris Rogers just scored 20 odd runs and the remaining was full Watson’s show. Stuart Broad troubled Michael Clarke with bouncers but it was Shane Watson who suffered the most painful blow during Broad’s challenging post-lunch spell. Watson initially wanted to hook the ball but turned away when it became apparent the pace was too much, and as a result copped a fearsome blow on the left side of his neck, just below the helmet. Watson whipped his helmet off and kneeled on the ground with his head down, clearly in significant pain. After some attention from the team physio Alex Kountouris and doctor Peter Brukner, Watson was able to bat on, though with what appeared to be some pain-killing medication.

Michael Clarke has been unsettled by Stuart Broad throughout the series. Perhaps as a result of his back injury, he has struggled to play the short ball, in particular, and as a result has sometimes appeared hesitant to come forward as quickly as he might have done in the past. Here he was fortunate to survive a bounce when he had scored just 1. Taking his eye off the ball, flinching and holding the bat up in front of his face, he was lucky to see the ball hit the handle and fall just out of the reach of Ian Bell at short-leg. It was another false shot for such an accomplished batsman and the reflection of some well-directed pace bowling from Broad.

When Watson even reviewed successfully after being adjudged lbw to Chris Woakes on 166 eight overs from the close, it looked as if he was fated to survive into the second morning. Anyhow this performance will be a remainder for the aussie fans and also a stepping stone for Watson in the test arena.