Shane Watson says his own disastrous World Twenty20 results will provide all the requisite motivation to lift for the most lifeless of dead rubbers on Tuesday against Bangladesh.
Australia’s tournament has lurched from one failure to another, and with losses in their opening three fixtures they were unceremoniously eliminated without even a sniff of reaching the semi-finals.
Tuesday’s clash against the similarly winless Bangladesh looms as their only chance to save some face on an otherwise miserable tour – and will also decide who suffers the ignominy of finishing bottom of their group.
Despite it being the last match at the end of “an endless summer”, Watson says there will be no lack of motivation for the road-weary Australians.
He says he will be driven to right some wrongs in a tournament in which he has been dismissed for one, two and four – for a grand total of seven runs.
Given no player outside Glenn Maxwell (142 runs at 47.3) has accrued 100 runs across the three matches, it is likely his teammates will be able to draw inspiration from a similar source.
“We have to be motivated,” Watson said.
“For me personally, the motivation is I don’t like losing. As a team we don’t like losing.
“And I don’t like my performance in this tournament. I haven’t got five runs (in one innings).
“I’ve probably got more wickets than runs at the moment.
“My performance has been certainly nowhere near what I was hoping for.
“I know personally I’ve got a lot to prove and I know everyone will be feeling exactly the same.”
Watson said the seemingly non-stop cricket Australia have played in the past 12 months, which included a gruelling 10-Test home-and-away Ashes series, Test and one-day tours of India, a Champions Trophy and a victorious Test series win on South African soil, was not to blame for Australia’s stunning no-show in Bangladesh.
“It’s been a long summer. It’s been a never-ending summer,” he said.
“But it certainly doesn’t mean that we should ever take our foot off the pedal.
“Playing cricket for your country in a World Cup, whatever format of the game it is, is a huge honour.
“There’s certainly going to be a lot of people who’ve got damaged pride especially after (the India loss).
“We’ll be shaping up ready to go to try and finish the tournament how we really should’ve started it.”
