Beyond break point for Shane Watson

Watching Shane Watson bat, run-scoring looks so simple. His five innings on this tour have resulted in three hundreds and two half-centuries — 115 and 104 not out vs BP XI; 126 and 56 in the first Test; 57 in the first innings of the second Test.

Judge it for yourself: For the rest of the Australian and Indian players if the day begins at 8.30 am during match days, Watson is up and running at 6.15 and while the day ends with the pool session at the hotel by around 6.30-7.00 pm for everyone else, the opener’s recovery session continues till almost 10.30 pm.

This is the gruelling, almost maniacal, grind that Watson is required to endure each training and match day to be playing-fit owing to his fragile body. His injury list includes back stress fractures, hamstring strains, calf problems, hip complaints and a dislocated shoulder. To keep him injury-free requires high maintenance. It’s a full-time job and helping him out on this tour is none other than the former India physio, John Gloster.

“He knows it for years that he has a difficult body to work with. He knows it’s been his weak point so he has to work doubly hard than others to physically work at that level. He is aware that he requires even more discipline and intent to stay at that level,” Gloster told DNA.

The Mumbai-based Gloster, teamed up with Watson in Chandigarh as soon as he arrived here on this tour. He revealed that they formed a unique relationship since the first Indian Premier League at the Rajasthan Royals, when Watson was coming back from a string of injuries and was looking to put consistent performances together physically. Watson turned out to be the ‘Player of the IPL’ and has gone on to stamp his authority on world cricket.

Watson was subsequently selected to replace Matthew Hayden in Australia’s ODI series against the West Indies. He went on to establish himself as an ODI opener and later as a Test opener.
Since then, he’s had a full-time physio working with him. When in India it is Gloster and in Australia it is Victor Popuv, a five-time Tour de France physio.

“We have formed a unique relationship in the form that I understand his body intricately and he understands the way I operate as well,” said Gloster.

“He has very intense preparation. He is up at 6 am and has an hour-long session in the morning every match day. Then he has the normal preparation at the ground with the team. At the end of play, he has recovery sessions in the pool before I work with him for a couple of hours where we do specific recovery work, specific manual skills work. It is time consuming work but it is necessary with Watson,” added Gloster, who worked with the Indian team from 2004 to 2008.

“He is beyond the work of one team physio. For him it is a lot of soft tissue work, balance work, maintaining body alignment work. It’s all about maintenance. The key is to get a player to a certain level and maintaining that.”

Talking about Watson’s secret of success, the former India physio said: “There’s never been any doubt about Watson’s talent, we have seen that right from the start when he was a young player. But, if you are not on the field you cannot perform. So the key is to keep him on the field in the best possible condition.”

Fitness is also about being fresh, so how does Watson manage to do that given that such long hours can make him mentally jaded?

“He definitely switches off. He loves playing his guitar, listening to music. We don’t speak about the game. He is quite aware of what’s happening around the world and discusses about other sports like golf and motorsports”. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing the fruits of your hardwork. Gloster is delighted at Watson’s results and his having played a small but vital part in it.

“Watson never cuts corners and that’s what is paying off now. He’s ready to go the extra mile, and you are seeing the results. It’s been very satisfying because you know how hard he works. You want success for people who deserve success.”