Shane Watson
Melbourne : Aussie opener Shane Watson said on Tuesday that Australia have no chance now of winning the Ashes series this year and even a 2-2 result in the series after the fifth test at Sydney would do very little to compensate for it.
“No doubt we’ll do our level best to draw the series with the fifth test at Sydney but eventually it’s about winning the coveted trophy. And we certainly haven’t been able to do that.” Watson commented after another disappointing batting performance by the Kangaroos leaving the visitors just a few wickets away from victory.
Watson was the top scorer for Australia at 54 with the home team struggling at 169/6 at the end of 3rd day’s play chasing 415 with still 2 days left and the axe of an innings defeat hovering over them. “It is very sad to be in the state in which we are now,” he said. “From winning the 3rd test in Perth to creating hopes of an Ashes win and now feeling disheartened after the utterly poor performance we’ve put up in the 4th”.
Shane who has been the most consistent player for Australia in this series also said that it would be a horrendous thing to become the first side to lose the Ashes on home soil since 1986-87. He also said that they knew it from the beginning how important this series was given the fact that Australians hadn’t tasted defeat in the Ashes since 24 years and that losing the series would ultimately get us in the history books for undesirable results.
Out of form Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting has come under a lot of pressure in this series after failing with the bat, and has borne much of the blame for Australia’s poor display of cricket. Ponting contributed just 10 runs in Australia’s the disaster hit first innings of 98 in Melbourne, and could only put up 20 runs in the second innings on Tuesday.
Shane Watson defended his skipper saying that Ponting was not the kind of player who needed any sort of extra encouragement from his teammates. “He’s been out there and done a lot for the side during his whole career,” Watson quoted. “Psychologically, he’s a very tough customer as he’s shown throughout his whole career. “Everyone in the team is and will always be there to defend Ricky. He’s been an outstanding leader for our team and I feel lucky enough to have got a chance to played under him and learn a lot from him”, he concluded.
Tags: Ashes Series, Ashes Test, Australia, Cricket, England, Kangaroos, Melbourne, Opener, Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson
