One of the most miserly bowlers to have played the game, Willie Watson's biggest strength was his
unerring stump-to-stump line that forced the batsmen to play out-of-the-box strokes, thereby leading to
their dismissals. He barely gave any pace on the ball, mostly resorting to fastish leg breaks or cutters
that were even more difficult to score off when the surface assisted him. His kind of slow medium pacers,
nicknamed the 'dibbly dobbly pacers' were a rage in the early 90s due to the novelty that they brought to
the 50-over format. In the 1992 World Cup, Watson and three others of similar kind were skipper Martin
Crowe's major innovations apart from his iconic decision to send Mark Greatbatch to the top of the order.
The dibbly dobbly men had a strong impact in the tournament, often having a stranglehold on the
batsmen.

Watson was also persisted with in Tests and though he wasn't a genuine wicket-taker in the longest
format, his accuracy meant that he was a good option whenever the captain needed control. Wickets
came at a premium for Watson who often had to toil for long spells to get one but it didn't matter much as
his role wasn't that of a strike bowler. Despite that, he did have a six-wicket haul and a four-fer, the
former coming in the abrasive conditions of Lahore against Pakistan while the other came in the home
comfort of Wellington. Despite the contrast in conditions, the work put in by Watson remained the same,
he had to slog for marathon spells though his spell in Lahore was far more incisive than most of those he
had bowled. Despite not being a superstar in terms of his numbers or persona, Watson will always be
remembered in cricket folklore for being among the first of the dibbly dobbly revolution.