Watson has final shot at redemption Great expectations: Shane Watson hits out in the nets. Another chapter in the complicated career of Shane Watson is about to begin. He has what he wants - a return to the opening position where he has done his best work as an Australian cricketer and a new coach who has shown him the love and attention he craves. He has a personal chaperone at the top of the order, in Chris Rogers, who has promised to help him concentrate in the quest for big scores. He is no longer vice-captain, so there should be no distractions. Now, in the series that matters most, it's time for Watson to deliver. Coach Darren Lehmann with Watson's wife Lee Furlong and her baby. When Watson walks out to bat with Rogers at Trent Bridge he will have a chance to improve on an unfulfilled Test record and consign his recent dramas to the past. If he can dominate the Ashes the way he has ruled limited-overs tournaments, he can also earn some redemption with the public. "For him to have a successful series would prove to himself more than anything else that he's capable of playing series-defining innings in a series as big as this," former Australian captain and selector Greg Chappell said. We all dream of big moments in Ashes matches, and like the rest of us he'd like to finish his career and look back on some defining moments in Ashes cricket. England recently axed an opening batsman, Nick Compton, who had made two centuries in six Tests. Watson has made two in 41 but has shown what a force he can be in one-day cricket, in which his average is as good as Matthew Hayden's. His return to the bowling crease after a succession of injuries makes him all the more crucial to Australia's campaign. "He would love to be able to take that one-day form into a Test series and I have no doubt he is capable of it," said Chappell, who supported Watson's quest to open when Ricky Ponting was captain. He will want to be remembered as a top-class batsman, and the way that will happen is to perform in a big series like this. If he does well in the next 12 months in Test cricket, it will change a lot of people's perceptions. That perception is that Watson, more appreciated by the old guard that played under Ponting, is self-absorbed, as most professional sportsmen are. The ill-advised, cutting remark of team performance manager Pat Howard in the midst of the India fiasco - that he is a team player "sometimes," did nothing to improve relations. A contrasting view is that Watson was handled poorly from the moment he was made vice-captain - there were concerns within Cricket Australia even then that an official alliance with Michael Clarke wouldn't work, not just because of their relationship but because Watson has a habit of worrying about things he shouldn't. Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie believes too much was asked of him as a bowler after he was moved down the order. Having recently recovered from injury, Watson bowled 47.4 overs against Sri Lanka in Hobart in December, and predictably broke down during the following Test in Melbourne. The Australians were a man down in Hobart but Gillespie says Watson should not have been asked to shoulder such a load. "That was poor in my view, he's not that type of bowler, he's an impact bowler," he said. If he's opening the batting, if you can get 10 overs out of Watto, that's perfect. That's probably why he did so well under Ricky, no disrespect to Clarkey, but they backed him in and let him play. He wasn't overburdened with the ball. It's pretty obvious, he's made no secret of the fact his best cricket is played opening the batting, and the stats back that up. So pick him and back him to the hilt, which is what Darren has done. Gillespie, now coach of Yorkshire, believes Watson is the batsman England least want to bowl to at the top of the order. He's got the strokes, the aggressive mindset to take on bowlers, and that's the worst thing as an opening bowler, to have someone with a sound technique and can put your decent balls away for four. A clear-headed Watson, with his crisp, powerful drives, scored a century in a session in the tour match at Worcester. It was his first hundred at first-class level in almost three years, but no one in the England camp doubts his potential to dominate a Test. "He's as good an opening batter as I've bowled at in international cricket," declared England spearhead Jimmy Anderson. He's got a solid technique, strong in a lot of areas. We'll have to try and figure out some plans and execute them well to get on top of him. All that remains is for Watson is to find a way of converting his many starts to centuries. Chappell, who didn't want to go over the decision to appoint Watson vice-captain, believes Watson can prosper in the right environment, and needs to shut out all distractions. He needs to feel that there's a role for him, that he's required. A bit of love and attention is all any human being needs," Chappell said. He can be a damaging player. As an opening batsman he was getting to 30 very regularly, it therefore tended to highlight the fact that he wasn't going on and getting big scores. I don't think there'd be many players in the history of Australian cricket who got to 30 more consistently than he was doing through that period, and getting started in an innings is the hardest part. If he can do that again in the Ashes, and knock over a couple of big scores as well, he will have well and truly done his job.