Watson praises 'fit and charging in' Bollinger

Sydney, Oct 15 : Australian vice-captain Shane Watson has admitted that paceman Doug Bollinger''s ability to set an example with ball in hand cannot be questioned.

Bollinger, 30, made his debut Twenty20 international appearance in Thursday''s opening five-wicket win for Australia against South Africa.

Bollinger took the new ball and delivered an intimidating first over which set the tone for the victory and a challenge for teenager Patrick Cummins (3-25 as fifth-youngest debutant in international T20) and Victorian James Pattinson (1-32) to match his aggression and passion.

"Doug''s been doing this in Twenty20 cricket consistently for the past couple of years. I''ve seen it with my own eyes for the times I''ve played against Chennai in the IPL," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Watson, as saying.

"It''s great for us he''s fit and charging in as he is… I know, as an opening batsman, if someone''s bowling good pace with good bounce and a little bit of swing as well, it''s hard to be able to line them up more than anything, so he''s going to take some wickets at the start," he added.

Bollinger is a member of the one-day squad as well and it is thought that he could continue to be a menace for South Africa’s Graeme Smith, who has struggled throughout his career with left-arm quicks.

Watson agreed that having Bollinger and another left-armer Mitchell Johnson join the squad for the ODIs provided an advantage to the Australian team.

"There''s no doubt that having two left-armers of quality is going to help us significantly over the next few weeks," he said.

However, he did not believe that criticism of Smith for struggling with left-arm quicks is fair.

"To weather a left-handed bowler (is more difficult for any batsman). You don''t really come across that many in world cricket," Watson said.

"When you do face them, they are a bit different and there''s no doubt the left-armers have given a lot of batsman a lot of trouble throughout their careers, not just Graeme Smith," he added.