Cricket Australia contracts list 2011-12 : Katich dumped

[Fontaine]

It sucks, but Katich isn't the first or last player to get dropped unfairly. I'm sure he'll get over it.

[Sachinism]

It was entirely fitting that Simon Katich delivered his stream of righteous fury about Australian cricket from the Cricket New South Wales lecture theatre at the SCG. Katich dished out some harsh truths, the likes of which no one in a position of authority at Cricket Australia has yet been prepared to address in public. They will have to now, after Andrew Hilditch and his selection panel pulled what has quickly become an incendiary rein, cutting Katich out of their plans despite all he had done with the bat over the preceding three years. Often an angered player has rounded on his critics in order to clear his head, and then promptly resumed his normal stance. The early sound and fury has often signified nothing. But Katich's outburst was highly meaningful, at a time when Australian cricket is examining its very marrow in the search for better results and better balance. International opponents have known for years how feisty Katich can be as an adversary, and Michael Clarke discovered it to his detriment in the SCG dressing room in 2009. Now CA have been similarly enlightened. Katich's temper, and willingness to scrap, are widely known. But he is also among the shrewdest figures in the Australian game. In the Australian Test team he was, by a distance, the most experienced state captain, and among the best performed. Neither Ricky Ponting nor Clarke had anything like Katich's captaincy pedigree before being handed the national job. The Katich who faced the media in the lecture theatre was angry, yes, but exceptionally controlled. By choosing his words carefully, Katich had the maximum impact on those he felt had wronged him. The selectors, who have toyed with his career more than once without having anything like the same investment in their decisions as Katich did in his cricket. The Cricket Australia management hierarchy that appoint the selectors and remained deaf to ever louder calls for a fully professional process. And the marketeers who destabilised the Test team ahead of the Ashes by forcing the announcement of an unwieldy 17-man squad to a deadline that was for publicity rather than purposes of cricket. One of the few to evade Katich's wrath was Clarke. Katich dismissed any contention that their two-year-old dressing room dust-up had played a part in his removal: "I'm not going to shy away from the fact we had the incident a couple of years ago, but I think we've both been really professional in handling that the last two years, and it hasn't really been a problem since then, so I don't think that's an issue." It was the most conciliatory thing Katich said for 20 minutes. Even amid such grave matters, there was still room for humour. Katich started off by apologising for the stubble that better reflects his 35-year-old self than a clean chin might have done. He also answered a query about a Twenty20 future by saying "not really, when you consider the way I play". A cue for knowing grins all round. But the most telling words from Katich arrived when he resorted to cliché. So often such terms have been used by cricketers or administrators to gloss over the truth of a matter, but in this case the circumstances made them sound utterly appropriate, even profound. When asked about the need to pay selectors a wage commensurate with what was expected of them, Katich replied: "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys". As he pondered the ramifications of his words, Katich hoped for a positive outcome stemming from the concurrent investigations of the Don Argus review into the Australian team's performance. "Hopefully the review, something good will come out of that review," he said. "Because this might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back." Some straw. Some camel.

[Switchblade]

Pup,s paw behind Katich axe ? Thats what i read in Indian Express newspaper Slater is outraged that C.A left out Katich

[Sachinism]

Katich played that down pretty well

[Karan114]

Yeah, doubt Clarke would have that much power at this stage of his captaincy, anyway. This has Chappell's imprint all over it.

[Sidhoni]

Greg Chappel said that they can not afford to waste talent like India!! What about Simon Katich, eh?

[maverick.rules]

Guru Greg screwed the Indian Team :(( now its the turn of Aus

[Sachin=GOD]

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys

:hysterical::hysterical: Things going rapidly downhill in Australian cricket. Players who have performed well are not been given contracts while non performers are being given contracts. I wouldn't be surprised if Australia also goes the way of WI in years to come , although the deterioration in quality of cricket will not be so steep for Australia as it has been for West Indies IMO.

[The Dark Horse]

:hatsoff: Katich did the right thing.

[Raghav_12]

Guru Greg screwed the Indian Team :(( now its the turn of Aus

Yes. He is national talent manager and selector for cricket australia. So expect all these these kinda things would keep happening :--D

[yoda]

Guru Greg

[Zelig]

I like his beard

[suraj]

Whether selectors or players- discussing this weak team is quite a waste they belong to 2nd tier in tests now so all this does not matter

[Cricketics]

I have a feeling he will be back because few players in Aus team might succumb to lankan spinners. May be Khawaja or someone might get dropped after lankan tour..And Katich would make a heroic comeback by performing well against INdia

[Cricket Tragic]

Katich believes he was dumped because he was 35 and there was a feeling the side could not carry him, Mike Hussey, 36, and Ricky Ponting, 36, but pointed out that India, the No 1 ranked side in the world, has even more senior players. The batsman did not mention national talent manager and selector Greg Chappell by name, but pointed out that he had form in trying to axe senior players in the past. The opener took a swipe at Chappell, who was formerly the coach of India, when he was asked about the 38-year-old Sachin Tendulkar and his brilliant form. "He is an inspiration to all of us older guys, because he was written off a couple of years ago, ironically by one of our selectors, and the fact is he has proved him wrong," he said. "He has gone out there and scored 200 in a one-day game - that's a world record. "Obviously, his last Test series was unbelievable - I think he averaged over 80. There is no reason why age should be a factor. It is your mind and your drive."

[Bradman99]

Whether selectors or players- discussing this weak team is quite a waste they belong to 2nd tier in tests now so all this does not matter

We'll see about that. Easy to try and say that now.

[suraj]

We'll see about that. Easy to try and say that now.

Yes like it has been easy to say Warne the best spinner in the world, Ponting the best captain, Bradman the best batsman, Mcgrath the best batsman blah blah blah when the going was good for the Aussies & the white boards ruled cricket.

[Ram]

I strongly recommend everyone to go see Katich's full press conference here; http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/current/video_audio/518607.html Its not often that you see a current player, that too from a non-subcontinental country, speak with such candor and boldness about selection policies. This should probably be an eye-opener for us Indian fans, who always think our selectors cannot get anything wrong. It is quite obvious that the tension centered around the strategy of Aussie selectors was a volcano waiting to explode and the Katich decision was the straw that broke the camel's back. On the decision to drop Katich itself, i think its absolutely ridiculous. The guy's a stand-up performer and without a shadow of doubt, one of the top performers of world cricket in the last 3 years. To drop him, in favor of replacements whose credentials at best are shaky, is laughable. The reason given for his axing - that they would like to Hughes 2 years to settle into the opener's role before the 2013 Ashes - just goes on to show how fixated the Aussies (and the Poms, for that matter) are, about the Ashes. It seems like nothing else matters to them, from a cricketing standpoint.

[Bradman99]

Yes like it has been easy to say Warne the best spinner in the world' date=' Ponting the best captain, Bradman the best batsman, Mcgrath the best batsman blah blah blah when the going was good for the Aussies & the white boards ruled cricket.[/quote'] Well, we haven't played a game in how long? Why don't you say that when you beat us comfortably? Last time I remember, we put up a pretty good fight against your guys. Mistake me not, aren't you guys number 1? If we really were 2nd tier you would of beaten us much more comfortably.

[Bradman99]

I strongly recommend everyone to go see Katich's full press conference here; http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/current/video_audio/518607.html Its not often that you see a current player, that too from a non-subcontinental country, speak with such candor and boldness about selection policies. This should probably be an eye-opener for us Indian fans, who always think our selectors cannot get anything wrong. It is quite obvious that the tension centered around the strategy of Aussie selectors was a volcano waiting to explode and the Katich decision was the straw that broke the camel's back. On the decision to drop Katich itself, i think its absolutely ridiculous. The guy's a stand-up performer and without a shadow of doubt, one of the top performers of world cricket in the last 3 years. To drop him, in favor of replacements whose credentials at best are shaky, is laughable. The reason given for his axing - that they would like to Hughes 2 years to settle into the opener's role before the 2013 Ashes - just goes on to show how fixated the Aussies (and the Poms, for that matter) are, about the Ashes. It seems like nothing else matters to them, from a cricketing standpoint.

Well said. I think Katich has taken a stand; he has got the media on the slectors back and the fans on his side. He has effectively exposed the selectors. Hopefully something good will come of this.