Shane Watson retires from Tests

As I mentioned above, Watson had the potential to be one of the games all time great all-rounders. His first six years in Test cricket showed this. However, as you mentioned, over the last 5 years, injuries really took their toll, he was an all-rounder in name only and his performances with the bat were largely underwhelming.

The same can be said for his ODI career. A monumental talent and start to his career but injuries brought down his overall numbers.

However, with all that being said, ketchim is right, Watson's ODI numbers are elite for an all-rounder. Of all cricketers to have taken a minimum of 150 ODI wickets, only Tendulkar, Kallis and Lance Klusener have a higher batting average. Of those three, only Klusener had a better bowling average - Kallis finished with the same bowling average (31.79) as Watson. In fact, Kallis' career batting and bowling ODI numbers are almost identical to Watson's.

kallis :  328 matches 11579 runs 44.36 avg
Watson : 190 matches 5757 runs 40.54 avg

Bowling :
kallis :  328 matches 273 wickets 31.79 avg
Watson : 190 matches 168 Wickets 31.79 avg

It suggests,kallis did it over a long period and with more number of matches..

C'est la vie :

"Watson's frame was so brittle it threatened to break him. He refused to give up.

Not through recurrences of back stress fractures, hamstring strains, calf problems, hip complaints, a dislocated shoulder

or a suspected heart attack that turned out to be food poisoning "

That did have a huge impact on his career.

Brittle as in..? Did he build it up the wrong way ? or was he putting too much stress and over flexing his muscles ?

can't really understand to how exactly it was brittle.

Brittle bone disease:

not one but a group of genetic diseases, all of which affect collagen, a key component of connective tissue

in tissues like bone, tendon and skin.

All types of osteogenesis imperfecta result in fragile bones.

A person is born with this disorder and is affected throughout his or her life time.

While Kallis deserves extra credit for his longevity, Watson's numbers still compare quite favourably even if you were to just look at Kallis' numbers through his first 190 matches. Kallis averaged 46.65 with the bat, scored 12 centures, and picked up 184 wickets at an average of 30.38. Watson, for comparison, averaged 40.54 with 9 centuries and took 168 wickets at an average of 31.79.

2,242 players have played at just least 1 ODI, but just 4% have played 190+. So although Watson has been hampered by injuries throughout his ODI career, he has still managed to play in more matches than 96% of all cricketers that have played at least one ODI.

Even if you were to ignore his contributions with the ball, Watson has a higher ODI batting average than Lara, Lloyd, Greg Chappel, Mark Waugh, Dravid, Crowe, Boon, Gooch and Azharuddin.

The one-day game definitely suited his style and body more so than Test cricket.

I am hoping that our Jason Holder gets to those Stats !

Andre Russel was coveted by Chief selector Lloyd to do that 

Bravo and Pollard are bits and pieces all rounders.