… Simon Katich is best Test player
SHANE Watson has completed his rise in importance to Australia in all three formats by being named the Allan Border Medallist for 2010. In a year in which Watson established himself as a Test opening batsman while remaining a key top-order man in the limited-overs game, he finished with 125 votes and beat the second-placed Michael Clarke (90), while Mitchell Johnson came third with 87 votes.
Watson was also named Australia’s One-Day International Player-of-the-Year and his five-day opening partner Simon Katich took out the Test title.
The recognition of his peers, media and umpires as Australia’s best player over the past 12 months was a major landmark for Watson, who had previously battled injuries for nearly a decade and struggled to become a full-time member of Australia’s team.
A clearly emotional Watson teared up as he accepted the prize and he made special mention of the work put in by Cricket Australia’s medical staff, who have helped him recover from injuries to most parts of his body over the past eight years.
“It’s been an awesome ride,” Watson said. “It’s very overwhelming actually to have received this award.”
His value as a one-day opener has been clear for at least 18 months and culminated in his delivering Australia the Champions Trophy in South Africa last year, when he scored centuries in both the semi-final win over England and the final triumph over New Zealand.
But it was in the Test arena that Watson provided the biggest surprise over the past year, when he stepped in to replace the out-of-form opener Phillip Hughes during the Ashes tour.
Questions were raised about his ability to face the new ball and he answered them in the best possible way, with 849 Test runs at 56.60 including one century during his nine Tests at the top of the order.
He has also offered Ricky Ponting a useful fifth bowling option and since his Ashes return he has taken 13 Test wickets at 29.61.
Following a series of scores frustratingly close to triple figures – 96, 89 and 93 – he finally broke through for his first Test century in a Man-of-the-Match effort during the win over Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test.
In the voting period for the one-day international prize, Watson was the third-leading run-scorer and the third-leading wicket-taker, and won the award with 33 votes from Michael Hussey on 25 and Clarke on 21.
Katich’s win in the Test category gave him just reward for being Australia’s leading run-scorer during the voting period. Katich scored 1 114 runs at 48.43 from 13 Tests and edged out Johnson with 10 votes and Watson and Clarke, who tied for third with nine votes each.
Katich scored Test centuries in Durban, Cardiff and Hobart during the past 12 months, as well as a string of scores in the 90s during the home Tests against West Indies and Pakistan.
Since returning to the Test team on the 2008 tour of the West Indies, Katich has scored seven hundreds and has averaged 52.16. It was only an injury to Matthew Hayden on that trip that opened the door for Katich’s Test return after nearly three years out of the team.
“I guess I was pretty fortunate that I got another chance courtesy of Haydos’ Achilles,” Katich said. “If he hadn’t got injured I don’t think I would have played Test cricket again, so I am just grateful for the opportunity from the selectors and Ricky and I have just tried to make the most of it this time around.” (Cricinfo)