Shane Watson - Redlands Tigers Player No 573
Redlands Tigers Cricket Club | June 18, 2024
Shane Watson is Redlands Tigers player no 573, Australian Test Player no 391 and Australia's 44 Test Captain
In November 2020 one of the highest profile Redlands Tigers players of all time announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Before we had Marnus to cheer for on the international stage, we had Watto. And before him you had to look a long way back to find our last Test player.
Shane came to the club (then known as Easts-Redlands) as a fresh faced teenager in the 1997/98 season from Ipswich and immediately made an impression with his hard hitting yet technically correct batting and ability to bowl at good pace.
Unfortunately for Watto his bowling action wasn’t quite as perfect as his batting and he spent a lot of time with back injuries, eventually requiring a back brace and a decent length of time away from the game.
He broke into the Easts-Redlands first grade team in the 1997/98 season, and was part of the last First Grade side to win the One Day Premiership. He was offered an opportunity with the Tasmanian Tigers during the 2000/01 season and grabbed it with both hands.
He made his debut in the Australian ODI team shortly thereafter in 2002, going on to have the kind of career most people can only dream of. In 2004/05 he came back to Queensland and home to Redlands, playing five more seasons before moving to Sydney. His last 10 or so innings for the club were nothing short of astonishing.
He captained his country in all three formats of the game, won World Cups, Sheffield Shields, IPL trophies and numerous player of the year awards.
Whenever scheduling permitted he was down at the club and very generous with his time for fans young and old. His success was no accident, it was the result of sheer hard work and persistence in the face of challenges that many would walk away from.
Shane Robert Watson
Test Stats
59 tests, 3731 runs at 35.19 HS 176
75 wickets at 33.68, best 6/33.
First Class Stats
137 matches, 9451 runs at 42.57 HS 203*
210 wickets at 29.97, best 7/69.
Easts-Redlands/Redlands Tigers Stats
43 matches, 1777 runs at 34.84 HS 164
32 wickets at 16.47, best 4/14.
