Watson says Oz batsmen not demoralised

Sydney: Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, who was the acting captain of the Australian side in their two-day tour match against England Lions, said that he did not believe the batsmen will be further demoralised by another disappointing display in the non-first class fixture.

According to News.com.au, the prospect of gaining a place in the team for the fifth Test or keeping it did little to improve the performance of the struggling Australian batsmen in the game as none of them made it to 50 on a patchy batting wicket on which they were held to a draw. The report further said that Australia was 6-227 in reply to the Lions` 7-269 when rain forced an early abandonment, with the two frontrunners for the No.3 spot, Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja, failing to make a convincing case to play at The Oval. However, Watson, who top-scored with an aggressive 45 from 44 balls before getting caught out, was not over-worried at the performance of his side`s batsmen, saying that with the bowlers bowling well to the opposition, the batsmen were able to get the start of their innings done in the end, which he added, is the most challenging part of batting. According to Watson, he believed that the team would not be demoralised by their performance against the England Lions, although he added that the game provided a few different challenges as it was not a Test match wicket. However, Watson admitted that the batsmen were in desperate need of time in the middle if they want to save face at The Oval and had not gained much benefit, adding that they have not got a `hell of a lot` out from the game in terms of batting. But the report said that Watson was probably consoled by the fact that he was not trapped LBW at Northampton, with the all-rounder saying that he felt no ill effects of the groin injury that forced him from the field during the fourth Test. ANI