Watson has 3.6m reasons to smile
Shane Watson's annual earnings are barely 10% of those accredited to MS Dhoni, but he has been named as Australia's top-earning cricketer in a new survey
ESPNcricinfo staff
17-Feb-2015
Shane Watson is Australia's top-earning cricketer • Getty Images
Shane Watson may have one of the saddest faces in cricket, latterly on show when he made a duck against England in the opening match of the World Cup, but at last he is smiling all the way to the bank according to the latest Rich List for Australian sports stars.
Watson's 2014 earnings are estimated at USD $3.6m, leaving him eighth among Australian sports stars and the top cricketer on the list, ahead of Mitchell Johnson (10th), Michael Clarke (11th) and David Warner (12th).
Australian sportsmen and women rely heavily on overseas earnings in the United States and India to achieve such wealth. Salaries for Watson, Johnson and Warner all topped $1m in 2014. Australia's women do not fare well in the latest survey with only two named in the top 50.
Watson's earnings fall well below the top Indian cricketer, however: MS Dhoni's annual earnings are estimated at around $30m a year. He was also dwarfed - in more ways than one - by Australia's No 1 earner: Andrew Bogut, a 7ft basketball centre in the United States, turned in estimated earnings of $12m.
Perhaps that accounts for Watson's sad face after all.