Watson's wife has baby boy

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Happy family ... Shane and Lee Watson welcomed Will into the world on Thursday. Source: Julian Smith / AAP

Shane Watson's sacking from the Australia cricket team has allowed him to witness the birth of his first child.

Watson's wife Lee gave birth to a boy in St George hospital Thursday night. They have named the boy Will.

"Shane and Lee are naturally delighted," Watson's manager Tony Connelly told The Daily Telegraph.

Watson was one of four players sacked from the Australian side earlier this week for the third Test against India.

The Australia vice-captain made the choice to fly home when he was informed the baby could arrive early.

His original plan was to return home after the third Test.

Under international rules, Watson could not have been replaced in the Test match once he had started in the game.

His manager said his wife and baby were doing well.

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Rain halts critical Shield clash

Rain ... No play was possible on day one of the Sheffield Shield clash at the WACA. Source: Lincoln Baker / News Limited

Rain washed out the opening day of the crucial Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and Queensland at the WACA Ground in Perth on Thursday.

With both teams needing an outright victory to remain a chance of playing in the Shield final, the unseasonal downpour in Perth did not let up throughout the day.

The Warriors currently sit third after two straight wins but they need Victoria and South Australia not to win their respective games against Tasmania and NSW in order to make the final.

Queensland have fallen to fifth but can still make the final with an outright win providing Victoria and South Australia both lose.

But with rain never relenting long enough for play to even come close to starting on Thursday, it leaves the Warriors and Bulls just three days to get the six points and outright win they need.

The WACA ground wicket has produced results all season and many of them well inside four days so both WA and Queensland will remain confident heading into the second day of still coming out with a crucial win.

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Punter: Watson always a team player

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Mates ... Ponting has always known Watson to be a team player. Source: James Elsby / AAP

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has backed Shane Watson as a team player, and says high performance manager Pat Howard would regret comments he made about the axed Test star.

In his first comments on Australia's crisis in India, Ponting has described team management's decision to stand down four players for their off-field behaviour as "drastic" but justified.

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But he says Australia need Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson back in the side as soon as possible.

Watson was described by Howard as "sometimes" a team player at a media conference earlier this week.

"Shane worked as hard as anybody around his cricket, there's no doubt about that," Ponting told reporters at Bellerive after making a Sheffield Shield hundred for Tasmania against Victoria.

"He's obviously made a blue here - I don't like to refer to it as homework because it wasn't homework - not getting his tasks done that were given to him by the coach.

" ... I've never known him to be anything other than a very good team player and a great bloke to have around your team."

Ponting said he'd made a point of getting to know Watson personally during his time as Australia captain.

"I loved every moment that I played with Watto," he said.

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"To tell the truth I think I understood him and his personality as well as anyone that I ever played with.

"I tried to get as close to him as I could.

"I tried to know him as well as I could both on and off the field and I actually felt by doing that I got as much out of him as I could as a player."

Ponting said Howard's comment was made under pressure and suggested he'd handle it differently if he had the chance again.

"I think he'd regret saying that as well but people are going to make judgments," Ponting said.

"I think Shane said this on the way home.

"Pat's known Shane for 12 months and (Australian captain) Michael (Clarke) and Shane have known each other for the best part of 20 years."

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Watson headed home to be with his pregnant wife immediately after he was stood down for the third Test of a series Australia trail 2-0.

Ponting said he's been in similar situations in his own career.

"(It's) obviously a personal decision and he probably doesn't care how it looks," he said.

"What the girls go through when we're away is hard enough as it is but there's certain things in your personal life you don't want to miss."

Ponting said he was unaware of any rift between Watson and Clarke.

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Mel's A-League preview: R25

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Date/Time: 2012:10:12 12:34:45 Source:FOX SPORTS

Fox Sports football commentator Mel McLaughlin previews round 25 of the A-League season and gives you her tips for every game.

Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets, Hindmarsh Stadium, Friday 7.30pm (EDT).

RUN HOME:

Adelaide - 4th, 39 points: Newcastle (H), Central Coast (H), Perth (A)

Newcastle - 6th, 30 points: Adelaide (A), Western Sydney (H)

Two very different situations - Adelaide are back home with the three points against Melbourne Heart, an emphatic performance just weeks out from the finals. Newcastle were also the better side in their match, but a combination of lacking the killer instinct in the final third coupled with an outstanding performance from Danny Vukovic cost them, with all three points snatched in the final seconds of added time. A cruel game, this.

So, the Jets are sitting ducks. Still in the six but a game less than the others in the mix for finals, they have no choice but to win at Hindmarsh and then hope to still be alive on the final weekend – even then they'll have to beat the Wanderers. I said last week that without the injured Emile Heskey the side would need to look to the experienced Michael Bridges and Ruben Zadkovich and that's exactly what they did, and the two led by example. The conversation regarding why exactly Bridges hasn't been utilised until now is for another day ... Adam Taggart scored his first goal in front of his home crowd and the signs were good – so what now?

Michael Valkanis will be a far happier man after the Reds' first away win since November - Dario Vidosic was at his best, Iain Ramsay scored a screamer and promising youngster Jake Barker-Daish impressed in his run-on debut. Marcelo Carrusca looked as dangerous as ever.

So they're home, but should be wary of a desperate opposition. 0-0 in their last encounter, Newcastle will have to work just as hard but simply be better in front of goal. They have to go for it, they must score goals, but an at times suspect defence will have to cope with the numerous attacking options Adelaide possesses. It's an exciting prospect, things may be a little cautious at first, but the Jets must throw everything at United. I think they might ultimately get beaten though, narrowly.

Tip: Adelaide

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Western Sydney	24	16	2	6	15	50
2	Central Coast	24	13	6	5	22	45
3	Victory	24	12	4	8	3	40
4	Adelaide	24	12	3	9	3	39
5	Sydney	24	9	3	12	-8	30
6	Newcastle	25	8	6	11	-12	30
7	Brisbane	24	8	5	11	1	29
8	Perth	24	8	4	12	-2	28
9	Heart	24	8	3	13	-4	27
10	Wellington	25	6	6	13	-18	24

Melbourne Heart v Western Sydney Wanderers, AAMI Park, Saturday 5.30pm (EDT)

RUN HOME: 

Melbourne Heart - 9th, 27 points: Western Sydney (H) Brisbane (A) Mariners (A)

Western Sydney Wanderers - 1st, 50 points: Heart (A) Sydney FC (H) Jets (A) 

Melbourne Heart's season is over. I'm calling it. A golden opportunity to stay in touch with the six and they blew it – barely turned up against Adelaide, in fact. How did it go so horribly wrong?

Congratulations to Western Sydney, another milestone with an A-League record nine straight victories after beating a very good Wellington side, and perhaps with a bit of luck to help them along the way. Regardless, this side has won emphatically, and it has won less convincingly, but they now travel to Melbourne aiming to break the all-time Australian football record by taking their streak to 10, and with a five-point buffer on the Mariners at the top of the ladder.

The pressure is clearly on the home side after Monday night, but the way Heart's season has gone they'll probably get back to their best and be the team that beats the Wanderers. I won't be the one to tip that though. John Aloisi made a number of changes and it was surprising to see Eli Babalj on the bench, and Patrick Gerhardt and Jonatan Germano left out all together. Strange decisions.

Tip: Wanderers

Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory, Allianz Stadium, Saturday 7.45pm (EDT)

RUN HOME: 

Sydney FC - 5th, 30 pts: Victory (H) Wanderers (A) Brisbane (A)

Melbourne Victory - 3rd, 40 pts: Sydney (A) Perth (H) Wellington (A)

Sydney's final home game of the season plays host to the enormous fixture that is the final installment of the Big Blue (for the regular season anyway). After a terrible two-week road trip, the Sky Blues' finals hopes were hanging by a thread, but they returned to that fortress they've created at Allianz Stadium and beat Central Coast – again – in front of over 16,000 fans. The defence had taken quite a beating, five goals leaked, so a clean sheet would have been welcomed. Fabio was suspended and Lucas Neill injured, so with both potentially available, does Frank Farina alter the backline? I'd be surprised if he did. Still, a nice problem to have for the coach.

Victory came away from Suncorp Stadium with a point, a cracking game played out in Brisbane, one the Roar could have won had they finished better.

Tip: Sydney FC

Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix, nib Stadium, Sunday 7pm (EDT)

RUN HOME: 

Perth - 8th, 28pts: Wellington (h), Victory (a), Adelaide (h)

Wellington - 10th, 24pts: Perth (a), Victory (h) 

Perth are coming off just their second victory away from home all season and are back in the hunt. They face a team that, although their campaign is over, finally showed what they're capable of – the Phoenix of old. They were unlucky not to come away from Parramatta Stadium with at least a point. The Glory have now won three games from four under new coach Alistair Edwards – but even he'll admit the most recent one, at Hunter Stadium, was as close to theft as you can get. Second best for much of the night, Perth snatched the win only in the dying stages of added time through Michael Thwaite (who came in for criticism for a woeful goal celebration – but give him a break – it was just his second ever A-League goal!)

Much like their opposition on Saturday, Wellington are also typically terrible travelers so it's remarkable to think they have taken more points on the road than home to date, and as such they've stayed in the country.

Jeremy Brockie is well and truly locked in a battle with Daniel McBreen for the golden boot, scoring his 15th at Wanderland to ensure someone in his team is still in the mix for a major award. But motivation to finish off the season strongly is high, across the squad, with many off contract shortly or vying for spots in their national squads. Even interim coach Chris Greenacre is on show, as he is no certainty to be given the position full-time for next season. With the coach sending the message to his team to forget about the ladder and have fun the players have responded. They are such a better side with Paul Ifill at his best and he's not far off it judging on the past few weeks.

Tip: Perth Glory

Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar, Bluetongue Stadium, Sunday 5pm (EDT)

RUN HOME: 

Central Coast - 2nd, 45 pts: Brisbane (h), Adelaide (a), Heart (h)

Brisbane - 7th, 29 pts: Central Coast (a), Heart (h), Sydney (h)

Are Brisbane back? Can the Mariners get back on track? Some big questions ahead of this showdown on Sunday.

Central Coast are looking more than a little wobbly and returned home empty-handed from a grueling mid-week trip to Japan, the hectic Asian Champions League schedule making life more than a little difficult. Graham Arnold again rang the changes in a bid to manage players' workloads and as a result their regular right and left fullbacks didn't travel, Pedj Bojic dealing with a back problem picked up in their loss to Sydney. Daniel McBreen will want to get back in the goals if he's to take out the Golden Boot, he's now tied on 15 goals with Wellington's Jeremy Brockie and hasn't scored in over a month.

For their lofty standards, the Mariners are in a little rut and won't want to slide much further off the pace with the finals just weeks away. The Premiers' Plate is also not 100% stitched up, so although a very distant, unlikely prospect. Unbelievably another missed penalty in Kashiwa, another sign of dented confidence? They've got the firepower, but Graham Arnold has to get this team believing again.

It would do wonders for them to beat fierce rival from recent years in Brisbane Roar – they've only beaten the Roar once at Bluetongue, and that was this season. Brisbane are starting to play like the Brisbane of old, but suffer the same problem of not converting dominance and shots into goals. If Mike Mulvey finds a solution to this his team will make the finals, and could be a dark horse. Ivan Franjic's move further up the park seems to be working, he's looking harder to contain than ever and was rewarded with a cracking goal to level the scores last week.

Tip: Draw

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Watch every game of round 25 of the A-League, Live and Exclusive, and in stunning High Definition, on Fox Sports.

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'Quade welcome, Smith not an option'

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Different strokes ... Smith (L) is unlikely to face the Lions while Cooper could return. Source:AAP

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans insists Quade Cooper's infamous public spray will not affect his chances of returning to the Test squad, but says George Smith is not an option for the British and Irish Lions unless there is a change of protocol.

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Deans joined Rugby HQ host Nick McArdle for a wide-ranging interview during the week, where the Wallabies boss confirmed plans for the pre-Lions camp were well underway.

Much has been made of the task that lies ahead for Australia, with the Lions having several warm-up fixtures to settle on their Test line-up while the Wallabies will rely on a three-week training camp.

And while Deans said the squad would just have to "make it work", there appears to be next to no chance of veteran flanker Smith stepping into the role vacated by the injured David Pocock.

"It was typical George – he's a class act," Deans said of Smith's jaw-dropping Super Rugby return.

"There's not too many blokes who could come from a competition that's clearly at a much lesser level in Japan and look like he'd never left.

"He showed the class that he has and remarkably, not only capable, but he's also resilient athlete - he hasn't had many injuries which is indication of getting yourself into good position."

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Smith's Wallabies claims were obvious as he slipped straight back into the intensity of Super Rugby with ease, the 110-Test veteran securing a number of turnovers and producing a couple of thumping hits.

Still, it appears rising stars Michael Hooper and Liam Gill will now fight out the No.7 spot – that is unless the Australian Rugby Union alters its long-running contract policy.

"Well there's two key things that would need to change," Deans said.

"One of them is individual, which is personal to George and his contractual circumstance. He's currently contracted to Suntory, which means then we'd need a secondary change which would be a change in protocol if you like.

"Currently, we are unable to select foreign players. Essentially, George is a foreign player - given that he is contracted to Suntory.

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"So they (Suntory) either release him from that contract and he becomes a possibility - but they're not going to want to do that - or conversely the ARU says 'well despite the fact you're contracted to Suntory we're prepared to consider you'.

"But right now he's not an option and that's where it sits."

The path back to the Wallabies squad appears a little less rocky for Cooper, with Deans confirming his infamous "toxic environment" comments were a thing of the past.

"Every time you gather a group of people you've got human dynamics and that is the only constant in many ways," Deans said of expectations Cooper may face an uneasy return to the national set-up. 

"So it's a part of the key requirements to have a functioning group to deal with that stuff.

"Quade's always been welcome and he's been a part of that group. Obviously there's different pieces of history … that's just part of the terrain.

"He has the same opportunity as every other player to earn his spot, earn respect … and we'll go from there."

Cooper, however, faces a much tougher task to regain the No.10 jersey with Deans admitting the playmaking role could be filled by any number of suitors.

The Wallabies coach isn't bothered by the fact no player has managed to nail down the position since Rugby World Cup 2011, saying everyone lacked experience when it came to the Lions.

"We haven't had a lot of continuity but that's going to be the case across the board," he said.

"That might be an advantage in so far as he won't be exposed in terms of lack of experience at this level because a Lions series is the deep end.

"Wherever we finish up we've just got to make it work."

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Mitchell opens up on Waratahs axing

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Dropped ... Mitchell won't line up against the Cheetahs on Friday night. Source:News Limited

New South Wales Waratahs winger Drew Mitchell says he was left out of the 22 for Friday night's clash with the Cheetahs because he's not pulling his weight as a senior player.

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Plenty of eyebrows were raised on Wednesday when Waratahs coach Michael Cheika revealed his squad for the Allianz Stadium showdown, the same venue where the South Africans pulled off one of Super Rugby's biggest upsets in 2011.

And while Mitchell himself admitted the demotion had taken him by surprise, he said he'd already begun taking steps to ensure the axing was a temporary.

"It's probably two-fold, I'm under no illusions I know I'm not playing to the best of my ability and to my potential," Mitchell told Fox Sports' Rugby HQ.

"And that's not only something I picked up, but also within the coaching staff and probably amongst my peers as well.

"And also being a leader in the experience sense. What I need to bring to the group is not just what I do on the field, it's also off the field and obviously there's a feeling that I'm falling short in that regard as well."

Mitchell said that while he didn't exactly agree with all of Cheika's home truths, he'd already had a number of conversations with the rookie Super Rugby coach.

"That's not my judgement, he's the one making the call for the team," Mitchell said when asked if some of Cheika's thoughts were wide of the mark.

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Watch the Waratahs' clash with the Cheetahs Live and in HD on Fox Sports 1HD from 7.30pm (EDT) Friday!

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"I guess he's made me aware of it this week – it's something that I can address.

"If this has been an ongoing thing, then I've spoken about this with Cheik and asked that if anything else comes up in the future then we speak about it prior to the event rather than perhaps after it."

Mitchell's spot on the wing has been filled by Peter Betham while Lachie Turner will also make his first start of the year on the opposite flank.

That reshuffle has seen Israel Folau revert to fullback and Mitchell said the new look back three had earned the opportunity for a crack at the in-form South Africans.

"The other thing we've got to look at is that, Lachie Turner, he was in my position three weeks ago," Mitchell said.

"He's now fought his way back in and he got some time off the bench last weekend and did really well.

"Peter Betham's come in off a pretty good ITM Cup campaign last year, but even through the trials he's worked his way back in as well.

"So whilst I'm disappointed, perhaps the focus should be less about me and more about these guys that are going out there to try and change our fortunes."

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