It’s a stat that just won’t go away for Shane Watson.
Two hundreds.
The Australian Test vice-captain could not have asked for a better opportunity to get the knockers off his back and start establishing himself in his new position at No.4 by posting just his third century in his 38th Test.
Dismissed four times previously in the nervous nineties, Watson had the Sri Lankan bowling attack at his mercy on a tame MCG pitch on Thursday’s second day of play in the second Test, especially with opening bowler Chanaka Welegedara off the field with a hamstring injury.
And Watson could not have asked for a better mentor at the other end than skipper Michael Clarke, who had just notched his fifth hundred of the year.
However when Clarke was out in the 88th over at 4-311 after a 194-run partnership, Watson had a brain fade in the following over and played a hook shot on 83, straight to the fielder at deep mid-wicket.
Yet again, the man with the rock-solid technique had caused his own downfall with a false shot rather than being removed by a remarkable piece of bowling. It was a simple plan – two men on the leg-side boundary and bowl short and hope for the best.
Watson, 31, should know better than that.
When the ultimate challenge for an Australian cricketer comes around again next year on the Ashes tour, Watson will face greater threats to his run-scoring talents than Dhammika Prasad, a 29-year-old right-arm paceman who had claimed 19 wickets in his first 10 Tests before making his MCG debut this week.
His favourite spot as opener is a long way from his reach at the moment with David Warner and Ed Cowan looking comfortable and former opener Phil Hughes making a good fist of his new role at No.3.
NSW’s Watson said in Hobart earlier this month that he was keen to make the No.4 slot his own, after being moved down one spot in place of the retired Ricky Ponting.
While Watson has had many injury dramas in the past, it’s between the shoulders where the problems appear to lie.
He’s simply too good a player to have scored 19 half-centuries and only two hundreds, when someone like Marcus North contributed five centuries in 21 Tests before being axed two years ago.
Watson’s overall average in 38 Tests of 37.02 is a shame.
Whether he bowls a lot or not, he has to consider himself a top-four batsman and lift his game to meet that standard.