Buchanan says decision-making needs work

Watson told to be careful with pull shot

Cricinfo staff

November 3, 2006

Shane Watson's pull shot can be his strength or his weakness © Getty Images

Shane Watson must think carefully before trying one of his favourite pull shots in Sunday's Champions Trophy final against West Indies, according to John Buchanan. Watson has been out pulling three times from his four innings in the tournament, including against West Indies when Ian Bradshaw had him caught at mid-on attempting a pull before he had scored.

"There's probably three or four times, if we go back to [the DLF Cup in] Malaysia, that Shane has played a cross-batted shot early in his innings," Buchanan told AAP. "Again it's one of his strong shots, he cuts well and he pulls well and often your strength can be your weakness.

"I think it's not necessarily a case of putting it in the closet, it's a case of actually using it at the appropriate time. Probably the times he has been dismissed on it have been very, very early in his innings. So maybe the decision making at that point in time, not necessarily the execution," Buchanan said.

Watson was again lured into a pull shot when he was yet to get off the mark in the semi-final against New Zealand and he was caught at mid-off. Ricky Ponting said Watson would learn from his mistakes. "He didn't really know the pace and bounce of the [pitch]," Ponting said.

"It was one of the first balls he faced for the innings, so opening or batting in the top order against the new ball you can be a bit surprised with the pace and the bounce. I think that's what's happened with Shane. He'll learn. I've defended him right the way through and I'll keep doing it. The way he played against India [scoring 50] is the way we know he can play, and I think long term for us he'll be a very good option up there."

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Players/Umpires

John Buchanan

Ricky Ponting

Shane Watson

Series/Tournaments

ICC Champions Trophy

Teams

Australia