Watson made his ODI debut on 27 June 2006 against Pakistan at Edinburgh and had to step in at the last minute as captain. With Scotland struggling at 4/20, Watson led from the front by scoring 80 off 85 balls on his debut. In that same match he along with
Neil McCallum set the world record for the highest ever ODI partnership by two debutants in ODI history for any wicket (they put on a 118 runstand for the 5th wicket. In fact this is the only 100+ partnership in ODI history by 2 debutants in history) In January 2007 he hit a match-winning 117 not out against
Canada as they successfully chased 293 in a
One Day International at
Mombasa. It was the first ever century for Scotland in ODI cricket. He had a largely disappointing Cricket World Cup in 2007 although he had the privilege of captaining his side for their second group match against South Africa. The opposing captain was his ex-school mate
Graeme Smith. After the tournament Watson was given the job full-time, replacing
Craig Wright as captain. Until 2008, the Scotland cricket team was made up of amateurs, players did not have contracts with the game's governing body in the country,
Cricket Scotland, and balanced their sports careers with full-time jobs. Cricket Scotland began professionalising the national team in 2008 with the introduction of contracts for three of its players. Watson was one of the three along with fast-bowlers
Gordon Goudie and
Dewald Nel. A year later Watson turned down a contract extension with Cricket Scotland to pursue employment outside cricket. ==Retirement==