Next six months will be a challenge for me: Watson
July 20th, 2011 - 12:15 am ICT by IANSSydney, July 19 (IANS) Australia’s new vice captain Shane Watson feels he will face his biggest cricketing challenge in the coming six months, starting with the tour of Sri Lanka in August.
Watson has become an integral part of the team with all-round capabilities and will play a major role in Australia’s progress in the coming years. The once invincible outfit has struggled in the recent past as they lost the Ashes on home soil after 24 years and crashed out from the World Cup in the quarterfinals.
“The next six to eight months is going to be the biggest challenge that I have ever faced in the Australian team,” Watson told Fox Sports.
“Going to Sri Lanka and playing in their conditions is as tough a tour as there is, especially for an Australian team. Sri Lanka is very foreign, the conditions are, to what we are used to in Australia. Only having Ricky (Ponting) with the experience is going to provide a huge challenge.
“On the back of that, we go to South Africa and play Tests and one-dayers in South Africa. That in itself is a challenging tour as well, and one of the toughest ones you can go on. It will be a really interesting time for us as a team, over the next six months to see exactly where we are at, and see the continued improvement, because that’s really what we have to show.”
Though Australia still hold the top spot in the one-day rankings, they have dropped to fifth in Tests.
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- Australia still a force to reckon with in ODIs (Team Profile, World Cup Countdown) - Feb 07, 2011
- Confident with the squad we have: Clarke - Aug 04, 2011
- Australian team is worse than crisis-stricken Pakistan: Ganguly - Feb 20, 2011
- Confident Australia arrive for Windies battle - Mar 11, 2012
- Swann says it would be great if England gets No. 1 ranking - May 01, 2011
- Clarke named new Australia captain - Mar 30, 2011
- Pakistan cricketers starts preparations for upcoming Sri Lanka tour - May 17, 2012
- Steve Rixon appointed Australia's fielding coach - Jun 28, 2011
- Australia will be back at the top, says ex-coach Nielsen - Jan 19, 2012
- Bell confident of England beating Sri Lanka in WC quarterfinal - Mar 21, 2011
- Watson singles out 'rookie' Finn as Australia's No.1 Ashes target - Aug 24, 2010
Tags: 24 years, australia, capabilities, eight months, fox sports, home soil, ponting, quarterfinals, ricky, shane watson, six months, south africa, sri lanka, sydney, vice captain, world cup