Australia keeping careful eye on Watson’s fitness

HOBART - Australian all-rounder Shane Watson’s workload is being carefully monitored by team management who are wary not to turn the player into the goose that laid the golden egg.

Watson has spent nearly 29 hours at the crease, faced almost 215 overs of bowling, rolled his arm over 938 times and not missed a game for state or country this summer.

Coach Tim Nielsen, however, insists that Watson has not yet reached the point where he needs a rest.

Australia knows that it can ill afford to lose a player of Watson’s caliber.

The selection of John Hastings as back-up to Watson has emphasized the hole the native Queenslander would leave should he break down.

“We’re always thinking about those things. It’s a balancing act of finding him enough cricket to keep him in the form that he’s in and giving him a rest,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Nielsen, as saying.

He added: “We have to be aware of how he’s going physically, if he’s still making lots of runs and batting for a long time.”

The man who redesigned Watson’s once fragile frame, physiotherapist Victor Popov, said the key to keeping the all-rounder on the park was ensuring he was not overburdened with the ball.

“The less bowling he does the more likely he is to keep playing, that would be a way of putting it,” he said. (ANI)