The hardest thing was using up a review: Shane Watson

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson is perhaps one of those cricketers who have not been benefited much by the Decision Review System (DRS). Call it the luck with the DRS, or rather the lack of it, Watson has being trapped in front of the stumps lbw on 29 occasions across 109 Test innings, the sixth most of any player in the history.

Fourteen of those dismissals came against the Ashes rivals England, and on eight occasions he erred by calling for DRS, including twice in his final Test in July last year. Reflecting back on his struggles with the technology, the former Aussie had a lot to tell on the DRS.

Shane Watson was not shy in admitting that he took quite some time to acclimatize to the changing trends from old school umpiring to DRS. “This new technology comes in and you’re supposed to know how to use it at the highest level, straight away,” Watson told cricket.com.au in an interview.

Talking on why he erred on most occasions with the DRS, he defended himself saying he played against the moving ball being an opener. “I was an opening batsman, the ball was moving, I didn’t know exactly whether it was close, whether it was missing leg, hitting middle,” he said. “You’re also conferring with your partner as well; it’s not just me reviewing it straight away every time, because you’re there with your mate and he’s trying to help you out as well,” he added further.

He also admitted that he had to suffer a serious backlash from the fans following his poor run using the DRS. “The backlash that I got (was immense), and I copped it all the way, because at the back-end of my career the crowd and everyone just gave it to me for referrals,” quoted the all-rounder.

He further cited that it was always a bad feeling when a review got wasted as he potentially took the right of reviewing the decision from his team mates who might need it later. “The hardest thing was using up a review, it going against me, and then your mate, who was batting lower down the order who actually had a decision to review, didn’t have any to use,” said Watson.

His concluding words definitely sounded apologetic as he said, “I didn’t do it that well, I learnt the hard way in front of a few million people and I get reminded of it very regularly.”

Watson is currently playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL and is one of the top contenders for the Purple Cap.

Also check out – Watch: Shane Watson and the DRS a romantic love story