SYDNEY – Australian opener Shane Watson is dreading the prospect of a record third innings defeat against a rampant England in the last day of the final Sydney Ashes Test on Friday. As his teammates prepare to face defeat on Friday in front of the bellowing Barmy Army visiting support, Watson said the prospect of a third humiliation at the hands of the old enemy is difficult to take. “It’s not great, is it? In the end, we are doing our absolute best and it hasn’t been good enough,” Watson said. “Losing so far by two innings is not good at all. It means we’ve been convincingly outplayed in two Test matches, and it’s not looking great for tomorrow as well. “There’s no doubt we’ve let ourselves down. But there’s no doubt as well that the English have played extremely well,” he said.
“They’ve been outstanding the way they’ve bowled. When they’ve batted, they’ve made the most of nice batting conditions. Hats off to them. They’ve played unbelievably well.” Bemoaning his side’s performance over the series, Watson conceded the team had not been up to task of regaining the Ashes. “It would be nice to be in the golden era, as a player. But we’re not playing well enough,” he said. “Going into this Ashes series, I thought there was going to be defining moments in our careers.
There has been maybe on the wrong side unfortunately.” For the third time this series the opener was involved in run out, but this time Watson was the victim after his misjudgments cost the wickets of opening partners, Simon Katich in Adelaide and Phillip Hughes in Melbourne. “It’s a horrendous situation to be involved in three run outs now. Something I’ve got to work on no doubt,” he admitted. “It’s not good enough. It’s hard enough at the top of the order as it is without run outs.”
