Australia’s Shane Watson celebrates reaching his hundred on the first day of the fifth Ashes Test match against England at the Oval cricket ground in London, in this August 22, 2013 file picture.
SYDNEY: Injury-prone Australian batsman Shane Watson said yesterday he is confident he will be fit for this month’s opening Ashes Test against England despite suffering from a hamstring problem.
The powerful all-rounder will have scans later in the day on what he believes may be a fascial tear, before discussing the results with Cricket Australia’s medical staff and working out how best to prepare for the Brisbane Test, which starts on November 21.
“It’s not too bad,” Watson told reporters at Sydney airport.
“I’ve had a few niggles like this even over the last eight or nine months, so hopefully it won’t be too bad at all or put me out for too long.
“My body’s really adjusting to bowling, it’s just an unfortunate little hiccup.
“Being here, it’ll give me a week or two to be able to hopefully freshen up and (be) ready to go for the first Test.”
Asked if he had any doubts about whether he would be involved in the series opener, Watson said: “I’d never say ‘no doubt’ but I’ve been able to get on top of this sort of thing over the last eight or nine months with a few niggles that I had even throughout the (July-August) Ashes as well.
“So I’m very confident that things should work out OK over the next couple of days and the results will be what I think they are and there shouldn’t be any problems at all.”
Watson has had limited time off over the past eight months, with Australia’s busy playing schedule keeping him abroad for most of the year.
He said while international cricket was “not an ideal world”, he was happy to play as much as possible.
“We certainly aren’t underdone for cricket, that’s for sure. For a majority of us, we’ve been playing for quite a while, so there should be no excuses for us being rusty at all,” he said.
Hamstring injuries have been common for the former vice-captain -- he missed the 2006-07 Ashes campaign with one -- and there has always been a question over how to balance his workload as an all-rounder. His absence, or inability to bowl, would increase the chances of fellow all-rounder James Faulkner winning his second Test cap, reports said.
Meanwhile, One-day specialist George Bailey said yesterday he feels ready to step up and play a part in the Test side as Australia attempt to wrest back the Ashes from England.
Australia’s one-day captain plans to make another pitch for the Test number six batting spot in Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield game with Queensland in Brisbane starting tomorrow.
Bailey, 31, has received strong support to win a place in the middle order for the series opener at the Gabba starting on November 21 and has been earmarked by chief selector John Inverarity as an Ashes contender. Asked if he felt ready to play Test cricket, Bailey, who has just returned from a prolific one-day series in India, said: “I feel like I am. I feel I am playing as good cricket as I ever have and I am still continuing to try and get better.
“I am at an age where you know you are only going to get one crack at it. So you do it exactly the way you want to do it and I think there are some positives in that too.”Bailey has at times struggled to fulfil his undoubted potential -- he averaged just over 18 in 14 Shield innings last season -- but said he has learned to block out the knockers.
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell said in a weekend newspaper column that Bailey’s batting technique was not worthy of a Test spot despite his glut of ODI runs.
“When you get to my age it’s making small changes just to make sure you are as sharp as you can be, more mentally than anything else,” Bailey said.
“What I have got out of the last couple of series is a lot of confidence in the way I play, not worrying too much about external factors. That’s a nice way to be. I wish I had worked that out a lot earlier.”
Bailey admitted his batting style is not “pretty” but said he has come to terms with it.
“When I watch the TV and see Ricky Ponting or Michael Clarke bat, that to me is beautiful,” Bailey said.
“When I watch myself bat it is not that pretty. But once you come to terms with that and make sure it is as good as it can be I don’t think anyone cares how it happens as long as you are making runs.”AFP
