25 Interesting Facts about Shane Watson

Shane Watson is Australia’s and the world’s one of the best all-rounders to ever play the gentleman’s game called “cricket”. He had a long career of 14 years, from 2002 to 2016. Australia needed a competent all-rounder, who could teem the void in the side by contributing to all three aspects (batting, bowling & fielding) of the game in the 2000s, and definitely, the emergence of Watson did that. Along with being an aggressive middle-order batsman, he could swing the ball both ways properly. Watson’s white-ball cricket performance was way better than his red-ball career. As the veteran all-round pack from Queensland turned 40 today, let’s have a look at some interesting facts about Shane Watson, which may blow your mind. 

Interesting Facts About Shane Watson

1. Shane Robert Watson was born in Queensland on 17th June 1981. Despite being born in Queensland, Watson made his first appearance in first-class cricket for Tasmania in 2001 at the age of 19. It was the main man Greg Shippered of his cricket academy “Australian Cricket Academy”, Tasmania, who acknowledged his caliber. But after representing them for 3 years in the domestic circuit, he returned to his native place Queensland in 2004-05. He had a great first-class career, getting 9451 runs in 210 wickets in 137 matches. 

2. He is called “Watto” by his teammates. 

3. Shane Watson played the U-19 World Cup for Australia along with his senior Australia teammates like Shaun Marsh, ED Cowan, Michele Clarke, Mitchell Johnson, Andrew McDonald, etc. He finished the tournament as the 4th highest runs scorer, 266 runs in 6 matches with a bewitching average of 65.19. 

4. Watson played his first international match against South Africa when Australia traveled there in 2002, he managed to score 2 runs only in his first international match and was not given the ball. 

5. Shane Watson’s career has been a roller-coaster ride mostly due to several injuries. Just after making his debut, he injured his back and was ruled out of the 2003 World Cup, which Australia won in South Africa under Ricky Ponting’s leadership. His international journey became smooth after 2008, being more fit as an athlete. 

6. Watson is the first Australian player to notch up 5000 runs and take 150 wickets in ODIs.

7. His unbeaten 185 runs off 95 balls against Bangladesh in 2011 at Dhaka is the highest score by a batsman in run-chase and also the best score by an Australian in ODI cricket. He smoked 15 sixes and 15 fours in his stormy innings. 

8. The 6 ft tall outstanding cricketer won the “Man of the Match” award in the finals of the 2006 Champions Trophy for his offer of 57 runs and 2 wickets. 

9. Watto has proved his worth in a big tournament like the Champions Trophy 2006. He displayed an all-round performance, scoring 265 runs with the bat and 6 wickets with the ball, which rewarded him the “Man of the Series” honor. 

10. Shane Watson holds a unique record of winning four consecutive Man of the Match awards in an ICC competition. 

11. Watson made his first appearance in Test cricket in 2005 at Sydney Cricket Ground. He amassed 31 runs and took 1 wicket in his first longest format match, Younis Khan was his prey. Watson has had a decent test career, making 3731 runs and grabbing 75 wickets in 59 matches. 

12. Shane Watson made his debut in the shortest format of the game in 2006 against South Africa. He bagged only one wicket on his debut game. 

13. Watson owns a few records in his name in T20 internationals-

  i) He is the first-ever player to hit a century and take a 4 wicket haul in a T20 match. 

ii) he was at No 1 position on the ICC all-rounder ranking for 150 weeks, which is most by any player. 

iii) the right-hander has taken the most wickets for Australia in T20I (48). 

14. Watson is the first Aussie to smash a century in all three formats of the game. Current Australian all-rounder, Glenn Maxwell is the other Australian to do so. 

15. In the 2012 T20 World Cup, Shane Watson became the Man of the Series for scoring 249 runs and scalping 11 wickets. It was his second Man of the Series award in the ICC events after the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. 

16. Watson once misunderstood a chest ache as a heart attack, which he suffered before a training season in the 2006 Champions Trophy in India. He was immediately taken to a hospital afterward. The doctors revealed that the pain was caused due to acidity. Later on, Watson did exceptionally well for his country and ended up won the trophy with the team. 

17. Shane Watson has won 4 ICC tournaments with the Australian side- the 2006 Champions Trophy,  2007 World Cup,  2009 Champions Trophy, and 2015 World Cup.

18. He is one of the best Australians to be a part of the World’s best T20 League, IPL. Rajasthan Royal bought him for a handsome amount of $125000 in the inaugural edition of IPL (2008). Watson was one of the reasons behind Rajasthan’s maiden IPL victory, he accumulated 472 runs with an impressive average of 47.20 and bagged 19 wickets too. His first T20 century came off against Chennai Super Kings in 2013, 101 runs from 61 balls.

19. Watson is one of two players to score a century in the finals of IPL, he smacked 117 off 57 balls in the 2018 IPL final to help his team CSK wear the crown for the 3rd time. Wriddhiman Saha is the first batsman to hit a century in an IPL final (2014). 

20. Shane Watson has won many accolades to make his cabinet look exotic. Australia named him the “ODI player of the Year”  (2010, 2011 & 2012) and “T20 Player of the Year” thrice (2012, 2013 & 2017). He also got the Australian Test Cricketer of the year award in 2011. To the Australians, the prestigious “Allan Border Medal” means a lot. Watto wore the honor two times (2010 and 2011) in his cricket career.

21. He took part in almost all the T20 Franchise Leagues (IPL, PSL, CPL, and BBL) in the world with his incredible ability of bowling, batting, and fielding. 

22. Watson tied the knot with Australian broadcaster Lee Furlong in 2010. Their family is of four members, including their 2 children. 

23. Watson has tried his luck in business also, he launched his sports clinic called “Lets Activate” IN 2017. It grooms the kids to be good sportspersons with the help of songs, dance, and sports activities. 

24. Watson’s jersey number was 33. 

25. By 2021, his estimated net worth is $25 million.

Hope you enjoyed this article about Interesting facts about Shane Watson.

Career Stats of Shane Watson

Format	Matches	Innings	Runs	Batting Avg	Strike-Rate	Best	50s	100s	Wickets
ODI	190	169	5757	40.54	90.44	185*	33	9	168
T20I	58	56	1462	29.24	145.32	124*	10	1	48
Test	59	109	3731	35.19	52.59	176	24	4	75
T20-Others	343	335	8821	29.30	138.30	124*	53	6	216