Shane Watson signs for Hampshire

The Australian allrounder, Shane Watson, has joined Hampshire as cover for the overseas pair of Shane Warne and Michael Clarke, who will be away on international duty for part of the 2004 season.

Watson, who regularly features in Australia's A sides, has played 23 ODIs for Australia and was a member of the World Cup-winning squad in 2003. He enjoyed a fine season for Tasmania in 2003-04, scoring 983 runs in 10 matches at an average of 52.23, including four centuries, and has long been earmarked for the allrounder's role in the Test side.

Hampshire should be seeing a lot of Watson this season, as Australia will be touring Zimbabwe in May and hosting Sri Lanka in June, and both Warne and Clarke are expected to feature prominently in these matches.