Watson looking to mentor next generation

Retired Australia allrounder Shane Watson says professional sportspeople are too often left to their own devices to deal with criticism from an increasingly intrusive public.

Through a decorated career that spanned more than a decade, Watson endured more than his fair share of injuries. Consequently, he was often viewed by the Australian public as a player who was given chance after chance to impress, without ever nailing down a position – especially in the Test team, where he was shuffled around the top six.

Watson said dealing with the negative publicity that came as a result of that was "a challenge".

"In the end the biggest battle was always within myself to try and get fit," he told cricket.com.au. "That was the hardest part because I hated not playing.

"But what came of that was all the public feedback and everything that I'd get quite consistently, whether it was written in the media or just (what) the general public would relay back to me.

"In the end I dealt with it as well as I possibly could with the mechanisms and the support networks I had around me.

"Sometimes I didn't deal with it that well, internally, in and around my family. I absorbed it as well as I possibly could."

The 34-year-old insists more needs to be done to help sportspeople who find themselves facing so much negativity, and are ill-equipped to handle it.

"One of the things I really want to do now that my playing days are finishing up is, I think sports people, and cricketers especially, are left on their own too much," he explained.

"The coaches are there a bit, but you've got to try and find somebody who's been through similar things to you and they can relate to exactly what you're going through, to normalise it a bit more and also help you with some extra information that they might be able to give you that might make it easier to get through those periods of time.

"Through my experience you're left to your own devices to deal with it as well as you can. I tried to do it the best that I could, but if there was someone who had been along similar lines to what I'd been through, and it didn't have to be cricket, it could have been other sports or walks of life, but could have helped me navigate my way through it a bit easier, that would have made a huge difference.

"That's something that I want to get into now that my playing days are finishing up."

Watson has been inspired by a mentor of sorts from the United States who he was introduced to last year, and since then his form flourished both with the Sydney Thunder and Australia's T20 team.

"Over the last six months I've found someone who's been able to give me that (advice and support) and it's made a huge difference to how I've been able to absorb things," he said. "I just handle things so much easier now.

"He's a guy who's got 40 years' experience working with high performance athletes. I spent two days with him after the Matador Cup last year after he was recommended by Will Power, the Indy Car racing driver.

"Within two days, the incredibly simple information he gave me made a huge difference. It's tough being out in the public eye always, you're doing your absolute best to perform at your best consistently, trying to stay on the park as well if that's one of your issues, and you shouldn't be left alone on your own because it's not easy.

"You deal with it as well as you can but in the end at some point of time it can get too much for you."

Mitchell Johnson expressed a similar sentiment to Watson, explaining how difficult it can be when a player is going through either an injury recovery period or a drop in form that sees them outside the team dynamic.

"When you're in the team it is a bubble," Johnson told cricket.com.au. "When I had an injury I felt like I was on the outside.

"The focus is on the team. If you're in there you're pretty sweet … but any time you got dropped you'd go back to your state, and you'd hear every now and then from your physio or coach just to check up, but it sort of felt a bit like (you were on the outside).

"As a past player, you should probably get on the front foot with some of these things, say (to current players) you're there if they need you.

"It's a funny one. We (retirees) kind of feel like we've had our team, but at the same time we've still got a lot to give. You don't want to interfere with the coaches, but if you're someone a player looks up to or feels like he can get something out of, then why not?"

Watson has previously touched on the idea of coaching as part of his future, and his recent experiences with a mentor appear likely to only add to his desire to assist the next generation in some capacity.

"To try and give back to the younger guys or the people coming through with all the experiences I've been incredibly fortunate to have throughout my career, and all the incredibly good players who have passed on their knowledge to me – that’s what I see as something that excites me," Watson said in March.

"I'd love to be able to coach in the future. I'm not sure (in) what capacity exactly. Being an allrounder, I know I'm very fortunate to have worked on a couple of aspects of game and I enjoy giving back."