Australia captain Clarke hails team man Watson

(Reuters) – The frosty relationship between two of Australia’s most senior cricketers seems to have finally thawed with captain Michael Clarke hailing Shane Watson’s team spirit and citing the all-rounder as an example for all young players.

Watson, along with three other members of the tour party, was sensationally stood down from the third test in India earlier this year after failing to provide then-coach Mickey Arthur with suggestions on how to improve the performance of the team which went on to lose the series 4-0.

Cricket Australia high performance chief Pat Howard subsequently termed the barrel-chested Queenslander as “sometimes” a team player, while Arthur’s leaked documents alleged Clarke had described Watson as a “cancer” in the team.

Australia’s Ashes victory with two tests to spare on Tuesday seems to have erased all that bad blood, however, with Clarke praising Watson’s team-first approach in the second innings of the Perth test where the all-rounder plundered 73 runs from 40 balls en route to a sparkling century. “What Watto did the other day was put the team first,” Clarke said yesterday.