Shane Watson is revered as one of Australia’s most influential cricketers in all forms of the game. Captaining Australia in each format, he now shares his knowledge and expertise across the game as the current ACA Chairman, as well as being a respected guest speaker.
Watson was raised in Ipswich, Queensland where he began playing cricket at an early age. He first represented Queensland in National Primary School championships, which marked the start of his rise up the junior ranks. Playing club cricket in Ipswich for the local Brothers Club, he then played Brisbane Grade Cricket for Eastern Suburbs. Watson represented the state at Under 17’s and Under 19’s, and then ultimately represented Australia in the 2000 Under 19 Cricket World Cup.
Watson’s International Career began when the Australian team first selected Watson in early 2002, being selected to tour South Africa with the Test Team. Against the South Africa A side, Watson scored a quickfire century off of 96 deliveries and took three wickets. In 2002, Watson also made his ODI debut on tour and continued as a member of the ODI team.
Watson’s success in white ball cricket gave him the chance in 2005 to make his Test debut against Pakistan, batting at no. 7 with a top score of 31, and taking a wicket which helped Australia win.
Similarly, there have been many standout moments in the coloured clothing, both in the IPL and for Australia, with the highlight of his ODI career being when he smashed an unbeaten 185 from 96 balls against Bangladesh in 2011. His back-to-back Test five-wicket hauls against Pakistan in 2010 also proves that he can be much more than a change bowler.
Watson was a member of the winning ICC World Cup team in 2015, and has represented Australia at the ICC World T20. He is also a two-time Allan Border medallist. Across all three formats of international cricket, Watson has been named the Player of the Match on 29 occasions and the Player of the Series on 7 occasions. The majority of these awards came in One Day International cricket, where he won 17 Player of the Match awards and 4 Player of the Series awards.
Watson had particular success on the T20 circuit and is one of the best players in IPL history being named player of the season in the inaugural edition. He now continues his work in India as assistant coach of Delhi Capitals in the IPL.
Watson has witnessed the game’s evolution from multiple perspectives: player, commentator, coach, and president of the Australian Cricketers Association. Watson is the current ACA Chairman, representing the interests of female and male professional Australian cricketers throughout the country and presiding over the introduction of equality of working conditions for all Australian cricketers.
After retirement, Watson has gone on to be the Delhi Capitals assistant coach in the IPL, and additionally, he is also heavily involved in the IPL commentary team.
Apart from being involved in professional cricket, Watson released a book in 2022 called ‘Winning the Inner Battle’. He has also founded two businesses, the first being BEON Performance, with Dr. Jacques Dallaire (a world renowned Performance Specialist) and Ian Thorpe (one of Australia’s greatest Olympians). Where they teach the framework, tactics, and skills to ensure that everyone can develop a high-performance mindset to bring their best performance to every situation.
Watsons second business, T20 Stars, is an online T20 Cricket content platform. T20 Stars allows Watson to share the depth of knowledge that he has gained throughout his career through online content and equipment that is designed for performance.
Personally, Watson is a genuine, confident and optimistic family man who has a strong passion for giving back to the community and sharing his knowledge of creating a high performance mindset. He is actively communicating and inspiring community groups and supporting charities throughout Australia.
Watson is a husband, and a father to his two kids. He also loves golf, a good coffee and great Australian food and wine.
