Australia’s all-rounder Shane Watson has been advised to drop one of the formats by former players, with some saying he is too ‘soft’ to be playing all three.
The criticism comes in the wake of another injury – his 15th in nine years –which saw him excluded from the Gabba Test against South Africa. However, the 31-year old has been named in the 13-man squad for the second Test which starts on Thursday.
His lack of regular availability for the team is ruffling quite a few feathers with the management though there are no questions about his capailities.
Former Test player Len Pascoe says Watson should consider retiring from one-day internationals and should not be used as an all-rounder anymore.
"The answer is for Shane to give away the 50-over game, that does the damage," he was quoted as saying by The Herald Sun.
"To me he is one of the top three batsmen in the world. On the bowling side of things, he should be used less and no longer be regarded as an all-rounder.
"Give someone in their early 20s a chance and let's save Watto's body for Test cricket and Twenty20s."
However, Craig McDermott, who recently resigned as Australia’s bowling coach, said that excessive workload was not the problem in Watson’s case.
"I don't think it's a workload issue, Watto doesn't bowl the amount of overs the other guys bowl.
"Unfortunately, he keeps coming up with niggling injuries that are putting his career on hold and I know it would be very disappointing from Shane's point of view,” he added.
South Africa’s Barry Richards said that with Watson’s history of injuries, he should consider dropping one form of the game, adding that his lack of consistency on the pitch is bound to be frustrating for the selectors.
"There seems to be other issues relating to Watson," he said.
"I mean are they (the selectors) fed up with his injuries? Is it getting to the stage where the selectors are saying Shane, get fit regularly so we can rely on you to put in 20 overs and make a few runs?
"It's got to the frustration stage where people are saying we've stayed patient with this guy. At the moment, he can be Cinderella ... or he can be one of the ugly sisters.
Richards further said that Watson’s place as a batsman is not guaranteed in the line-up as Australia have other options to choose from and that is why the all-rounder needs to make a decision about his future.
"The only person who can answer the criticism is Shane Watson. Does he want to keep bowling? Where does he want to go with all this?
"If he wants to be part of the Australian set up he must realise they will want him to bowl, otherwise he is up against six other batsmen and he is not guaranteed a place if he is not in form.
"Is he too soft? I don't know.”