This story is from December 24, 2014

At MCG, a bouncer rattles Shane Watson

Dramatic scenes unfolded at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday when Shane Watson was hit on the head by a James Pattinson bouncer.
At MCG, a bouncer rattles Shane Watson
Dramatic scenes unfolded at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday when Shane Watson was hit on the head by a James Pattinson bouncer.
MELBOURNE: Dramatic scenes unfolded at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday when Shane Watson was hit on the head by a James Pattinson bouncer.
Watson looked distressed and immediately sank to his knees before both players left the training session. The incident comes just as the Aussies seemed to be gradually shaking off the Phillip Hughes incident.
Watson, who was present at the Sydney Cricket Ground when Hughes was fatally struck by a bouncer, seemed more shaken than injured by the incident.
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"I had a chat with him. He's okay, just a bit shaken, as anyone would be. I can't really go into anymore because there are no more details to give you," said the team's wicketkeeper, Brad Haddin.
The Australian players immediately rushed to Watson's side after he seemed overcome more by emotion than pain. Team doctor Peter Brukner was seen attending to the player before leading him away into the dressing room.
Mitchell Starc also suffered a minor injury at nets and hobbled out after being struck on the knee. With rain and strong winds lashing Melbourne intermittently through the day, the practice nets seemed treacherous even when the Indians batted, and Ishant Sharma got hit on the pads by one that skidded through while batting.
The Phillip Hughes incident has left a nasty psychological scar on all Aussie players. Opener Chris Rogers, speaking an hour before the Watson incident, said he felt angry when he was hit on the back of the helmet in Brisbane by a Rohit Sharma shot while fielding at short leg.

"I'm not the bravest out there," Rogers says. "You get hit in the head and it's just two inches from where Phil got hit and lot of things go through your mind...I'm 37 and I'm standing at short leg and I think, what the hell am I doing here? I was a bit upset at that time and didn't want to speak to anyone."
Watson had earlier nearly broken down during a media interaction preceding the Adelaide Test.
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