The former Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson recently claimed that he still felt to be able to play more times. At the age of 37-year-old, the all-rounder is thoroughly enjoying the cricket.
Watson is now ready to feature for Sydney Thunder in the upcoming 2018/19 Big Bash League (BBL), starting from 19 December. The all-rounder is totally open-minded about his future cricketing career who is now featuring in several T20 cricket leagues in worldwide, including the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL), apart from his native BBL.
Recently, the all-rounder told AAP, “My mind’s open. To be able to play in some of these tournaments around the world, it’s so much fun. Also I’ve experienced life outside of cricket. Cricket is what I know better than everything.
“While I can really contribute on the field from a skills point of view, as a senior player and I’m still loving it, my mind’s open to continue to play. But if there comes a point where that real enjoyment is starting to wane and I’m not able to contribute like I know I can, then that’ll definitely be the day.”
The all-rounder retired from the international cricket in 2016. In 2018, Watson is in the brilliant form, especially with the bat. After finishing as the fifth leading run-scorer (319 runs) in PSL 2018, playing for Quetta Gladiators, Watson again finished as the fifth most run-scorer in IPL 2018 after scoring 555 runs for the champion side Chennai Super Kings. Moreover, in the IPL 2018 final, Watson played a match-winning century for his team.
Recently, Watson also featured for Sindhis in the T10 league in UAE where he finished as the third most run-scorer in the competition (223 runs).
Talking about challenges to play several cricket leagues at this age, Watson said, “Physically it’s always been a challenge anyway, so that hasn’t changed. From a mindset point of view, I’m on top of my game more than I ever have. From a technical point of view, I’ve been able to play Twenty20 cricket for the last three years which means that’s the only skill-set I’ve been working on.
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“In theory, cricket is a skill-based game, your skills should only get better the older you get. In theory you should get better until the physical component comes in and your skills start to go down.”
