Symonds faces all-round fight

Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson will spend the one-day tour of South Africa fighting for the allrounder's spot for the three Tests starting in March. Watson has returned to the international squad after only two first-class matches and if his limited-overs comeback is successful he will put Symonds under extreme pressure to hold his place in the longer game.

Symonds found his way slowly at Test level this summer, finally breaking free with a powerful half-century and five wickets with his medium pace at the MCG, after replacing Watson when he partially dislocated his shoulder at Brisbane. Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said Watson would be considered for the Test side "now that he is fit and playing again".

Watson, who has appeared in three Tests and 40 ODIs, said the situation was tight. "In the whole package there is not much between us," he said in The Courier-Mail. "Roy's [Symonds's] fielding is amazing consistently. I hold my own, but he is one of the world's best fielders. All I can do is continue to develop my bowling, which is obviously a major part, especially with Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne coming to the end of their careers."

The addition of Watson and Mitchell Johnson, his Queensland team-mate, in the 14-man touring squad disappointed Darren Lehmann, the South Australia captain. "We are close to being in the finals of the one-day competition and we still can't get anyone in the Australian side," Lehmann said in The Advertiser. "We have one of the leading run-scorers [Mark Cosgrove] and blokes who are getting wickets."

Lehmann feared the announcement meant that Jason Gillespie's international career was over. "The big thing is they have probably moved on from `Dizzy'," he said. "They are probably not looking at him for the next World Cup. It looks like they have made their decision."

Geoff Lawson, the former Test bowler, said Johnson's selection was a disgrace after only eight wickets in the ING Cup this season. "His stats do not stack up," Lawson told Sydney radio 2KY. "There are 25 bowlers in Australian cricket who have much better numbers than him. So how he gets in the team is an absolute disgrace."