I had in an earlier post been impressed by the pace Shane Watson showed in the first ODI game at the Dome. His outing in the Test match at Sydney was nothing flash however. He batted for a fair amount of time without getting too many and bowled just 6 wicketless overs.
So what does the future hold for Shane Watson ? His skipper Ponting is a big supporter. We know that if Ponting likes someone he can back him to the hilt and he was justified in the case of Andrew Symonds who set Johanesburg alight and launched off the World Cup campaign. Watson believes he can be the third bowler in this line-up - and that will greatly aid the balance of the side.
Question is - does he have it in him to get there ? - I don't think he will ever come close to matching Flintoff but he does have the potential to be a genuine bowling all-rounder in Test match cricket. I would suppose if he is given 2 full series against West Indies and South Africa we will be in a much better position to say.
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He definitely needs more time. Flintoff needed two years not two series of test cricket to realise his true potential (some believe he still hasn't), and there is no reason, on paper at least, his potentially vulnerable back aside (which I think he's had a stress fracture in before), to not hope for Watson to achieve Fredesque success. Let's not forget that only two and half three years ago not many predicted Flintoff would be where he is today.
In theory, each of Razzaq, Oram, Watson and even Dwayne Bravo have the potential to become their respective teams' "Fred".
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