Phil Hughes has been dropped from the Australian playing eleven, to make way for the all-rounder Shane Watson. This move comes after Hughes had struggled to play against the short-pitched bowling hurled at him by Andrew Flintoff in the test matches and that by Steve Harmison in the tour game. With signs pointing towards the return of Harmison into the playing eleven for England, the Aussie selectors have decided to go without Hughes in the side.
In the three innings that he has batted in so far, he has scored 57 runs, but more importantly it is the way he has got those runs which makes for the selection move. He had had a good debut series in South Africa, but the fast bowler duo of Flintoff and Harmison has revealed chinks in his armour while facing up to quick bowling and that may have prompted the decision from the selectors.
Watson, on the other hand, had been a certainty to play the first test match, but he got injured yet again. This meant that his place was taken up by Marcus North, and Watson went into rehab. With Watson back, it will be interesting to see whether he actually opens the innings for the Aussies or bats in the middle order.
Watson has opened in the shorter format of the game earlier, and done reasonably well, but in test matches, he averages less than 20.
Watson said that he wasn’t targeting any particular position in the team, and “In the end, all I can do is perform and see what the selectors are going to do with the team.” Hughes, on the other hand commented that he saw the short pitch stuff as a challenge and that he was enjoying it fully.