Fit Watson ready to open again

Shane Watson is preparing to open in an ODI for the first time in 16 months as he looks forward to what he hopes will be the longest injury-free period of his career. There are two vacant opening positions in the one-day side because of Adam Gilchrist's retirement and Matthew Hayden's achilles tendon problem and Watson booked one of those slots after he set up Australia's innings with 95 in a tour match in Barbados on Saturday.

It was on the same island that Watson last played an ODI, the World Cup final, as his muscular yet injury-prone body continued to trouble him through the following Australian summer. His hamstrings have been particularly vulnerable but he is confident that by giving up lifting weights and focusing instead on core strength he can stay out of the physio's hands.

"In the end, I was just doing what people were telling me, what the strength and conditioning guys and the physios I was working with previously were telling me," Watson told the Sydney Morning Herald. "That's what they thought was best for me.

"I'm doing quite a few things differently. For me, the most important thing is being strong in my core, and that's all I've really been doing the last eight months. I feel nicely balanced when I run and when I'm batting and everything.

"For me, that has been the really important part, to make sure that every muscle around my core is really strong so it can hold me in positions I want to be in. I haven't done weights in eight months. That makes a difference."

Watson had a successful run as an ODI opener in late 2006 but he lost his spot in 2006-07 when hamstring injuries kept him out and Hayden triumphantly returned to the one-day unit after a stint as a Test-only player. Tuesday's first ODI against West Indies gives Australia the chance to trial a new opening combination with Watson likely to partner Shaun Marsh.

Watson was not even in Australia's original squad but after being Player of the Tournament in the Indian Premier League he was named as Hayden's replacement in the one-day group in the Caribbean. The call-up came after a tough home season for Watson, during which he had a woeful Pura Cup period trying to become a four-day opener and was overlooked for national duties.

"I'm actually pinching myself that I'm here again," he said. "I was sitting in a team meeting before the Twenty20 game and was just blown away I was here."