Australian vice-captain Shane Watson puts the 'I' in team Shane Watson quit Australia's tour of India after being dumped for breaching team policy. SHANE Watson's position as vice-captain is now untenable. The rights and wrongs of dumping four players for failing to do their homework will be a matter of fierce debate but Watson's reaction as one of those suspended is unacceptable for anyone in a leadership position. The manner of his sudden departure halfway through the tour of India with Australia 2-0 down comes across as a class-A dummy spit. The injury-plagued all-rounder's claim that he is now considering his future as an international cricketer is hardly the broad view of a senior player in a struggling side. It smacks of self-obsession, which hardly makes Watson Robinson Crusoe amongst elite sportsmen. Indeed, it is that self-focus and self-belief which combines with natural talent to make a champion. But Watson, 31, is not a professional golfer, he is second in charge of an inexperienced 16-man touring squad crying out for guidance from its senior players. He has more to think about than just himself. Who would replace Watson as vice-captain suggests a return to the revolving door of the mid-'80s given so few players can be sure of their place in the team, but there is much to like about Matthew Wade's feisty attitude. Watson is entitled to return home whenever he wants to be with his heavily pregnant wife Lee. Family should always come first, as Ricky Ponting highlighted on more than one occasion by missing Tests during his illustrious career. It is not leaving which condemns Watson, it is what he said on departure. He mentioned "I" 10 times and did not utter the word team once. No mention of his struggling teammates. No apology for his unacceptable form since he has become vice-captain. No thought of the fact that at just about any time in the previous 20 years he would have been dropped given he has been playing so badly. Since Clarke, 31, became captain and Watson his deputy in the Test side 18 months ago the skipper has scored a phenomenal 2515 runs at 72 from 22 Tests with nine hundreds and was out slogging for 91 in the last Test after running out of partners. During that same time a regularly injured Watson has played 13 Tests and made 605 runs at 25 with no hundreds. That leaves Watson seventh on Australia's list of run-scorers and 13th among the averages during the past year and a half. Matthew Wade is a strong candidate to replace Shane Watson as vice-captain. Clarke has every right to expect support from his vice-captain on and off the field and every right to enforce standards in a team that desperately needs everything going for it. For the best part of a decade I have defended Watson as a good player out of luck when others inside and outside of Australia's cricket system have suggested he is a sook. Given his underwhelming performance as vice-captain and his failure to shoulder significant leadership responsibility during a tough rebuilding phase in Australian cricket, maybe I'm wrong and they're right. It is impossible to believe Watson could walk away from international cricket for two reasons. Firstly, he's making millions. Australia's elite cricketers earn more in a year than the average worker earns in a lifetime. Forbes business magazine named Watson as Australia's highest-earning player last year at $5.9 million, making $2.9 million from cricket payments and $3 million from endorsements. Clarke has since gone past Watson as Australia's first $6 million man, with both players boosted by seven-figure IPL contracts. Secondly, Watson would be left with a hollow feeling as an underachiever. He may have two Allan Border Medals, thanks mainly to his brilliant white-ball performances, but with only two Test centuries from 40 Tests and an average of just 36, Watson would be forever remembered as the dummy spitter who never really made it.