Katich dropped

[Beny]

Preety stiff when you can get dropped after making 99 and 80 in some of the toughest batting conditons in the world.

Team is. for 1'st test against NZ at the Gabba on Nov 18th

Hayden
Langer
Ponting
Martyn
Lehman (subject to fitness)
Clarke
Gillchrist
Warne
Gillespie
Kaspa
McGrath
Lee

[Lee Johnson]

I cant see why they have dropped Katitch, he outperformed Lehman in India so should be in the squad ahead of him. The only thing i can see is that they think lehman is better with the lower order than katich?!? but thats just a random guess.

[Milo]

Katich and CLarke were up for the sixth batting spot. Tough call but according to most (I don't encessarily agree), Clarke is the future. Lehmann outfperformed Katich against Sri Lanka (home and away). I would have been surprised if he had been dropped. He was also missed in the final test in India.

[Maranello]

Yes a tough one for the selectors - personally, I would have gone for Katich over Clarke, the former adds more spine to the batting line-up. Its not as if they are short of glorious stroke players, with Ponting, Hayden and Martyn, so Clarke could have been dropped.

Lehmann, if fit, should play in any case.

[Beny]

For me Lehman should not be there. However the problem is that people are trying to get everything they can from this guy before he retires.

Clarke is the future. He is the only test class batsmen of his age in Australia (aside from Watson)and I think that having come off a tour debut averaging 65 with the bat and 2.5 with the ball ( ) he deserved his spot. He is one of those superstar prospects like Ponting was at his age.

Katich although he is a good batsmen is not the same quality. He will get his spot back as soon as Lehman is gone.

[Beny]

Milo,


What dont you like about Clarke?

[Beny]

Australian odd couple have a lot in common

By Peter Roebuck
November 11, 2004

A curious sight occurred after the Test match played a fortnight ago in Nagpur. Australia won the match and with it the series and afterwards joviality was widespread.

Amid the cacophony of the presentation ceremony, a group of Australian players stood with their arms around each other's shoulders. Justin Langer was one of the amiable musketeers. He was joined in fellowship by those voices of age and youth, those distinctive characters, those supposed rivals Darren Lehmann and Michael Clarke.

Much about both men was revealed in that moment. As might be expected from an emotional and honest young man, Clarke had already talked about his respect for the old trooper, yet it goes deeper. Perhaps he senses that Lehmann has been through the hoops and can help him to find his path.

Doubtless he realises that the South Australian is a down-to-earth customer, a representative of the days when cricketers smoked and drank and took the game in their stride. He knows that Lehmann is unselfish and straightforward, important qualities in the eyes of an inexperienced young man.


Nowadays it is hard to be simple. Teams are cocooned by dietitians, psychologists, yoga instructors, agents, media officers and so forth. Bacon and eggs has given way to the soya bean.

Part of Clarke yearns for the old ways. He plays cricket as a game, dances down the pitch, bowls spin and laughs a lot. He wants to enjoy himself and to fulfil his abilities and realises the combination will not easily be accomplished. Lehmann had become a point of reference.

For his part, Lehmann had put aside his own interests to assert that his friend ought to retain his position in the side regardless of Ricky Ponting's fitness. Lehmann offered to stand down in favour of his chum, a gesture appreciated but rejected by selectors appointed to make up their own minds about the direction of Australian cricket.

Lehmann had seen ageing Australians linger too long. Meanwhile, ripe fruit withered on the vine. As a responsible senior player he did not want to make the same mistake.

Far from being rivals, the pair had become close friends. Both must have had mixed feelings as they awaited the announcement of the team for the coming Test in Brisbane.

Newspapers argued that one of them was bound to be disappointed. Instead, both have been chosen and it is Simon Katich who once again drinks from the cup of disappointment.

In truth, the suggestion that Clarke might be left out was a furphy. He has been scoring runs, holding catches and cheering everyone up, and even took wickets in his last outing. Nor did he fare any worse with the bat in Mumbai than most colleagues.

Allan Border has called him the future of Australian cricket, Of course he was going to play.

Trevor Hohns and company faced a more difficult task in choosing between Lehmann and Katich. In the end they plumped for the old-timer because he is not yet ready for the knacker's yard. Katich can be omitted and restored.

Once Lehmann is left out, it is over. Old players do not come back, not in Australia anyhow.

Lehmann did not survive merely because a young player looks up to him. Repeatedly his name is mentioned as important in the dressing room. His praises are also sung in Yorkshire, a county he has captained in his spare time.

Plainly he fulfils the role once assigned to the senior professional of providing quiet support, occasional advice and a timely joke to take the sting out of a situation. Perhaps he reminds more intense teammates that it is only a game.

Doubtless the Australian players and selectors are loath to abandon a fine servant in his time of need, for the hearing into David Hookes' untimely death starts soon and is bound to be traumatic.

Fortunately he is a fine, buccaneering batsman whose skills were missed in Mumbai. Now Lehmann faces the challenge of focusing his mind on the next ball, a feat more easily accomplished with an uncluttered brain.

Katich has been unlucky but he will be back. Australia supporters can celebrate the inclusion of two characters with much in common, not least the realisation that life is not worth much without warmth. Neither can be accused of anonymity.

Every member of a strong team stands out. In this case it is Lehmann with his bucolic gait and Clarke with his skipping run and endless energy. Clarke has time on his side. His friend must stop thinking about retirement and take his chance with both hands.

[vosser]

Superb Article - Clarke over Katich right now seems right and after being announced as Wisdens ACB player of the year you can't really leave the older guy out without him doing anything wrong. Katich's time will come, it's deffo not the end of him

[Beny]

Katich admits disappointment after being dropped

Wisden Cricinfo staff

November 13, 2004







Simon Katich: disappointed after being axed for second time in a year © Getty Images




Simon Katich has admitted he is disappointed to have been dropped for Australia's first Test against New Zealand at Brisbane, which starts on November 18.

It is the second time this year that the left-handed Katich has been dropped, after he also missed out on the first two Tests against Sri Lanka in March. On that occasion, Andrew Symonds was the preferred choice, despite Katich scoring 125 and 80 in his previous Test. This time, Katich will have to make way for Darren Lehmann, who is recovering from a hamstring injury.

"It's disappointing the way things have happened a couple of times now," Katich told Triple M, an Australian radio station. He was the third-highest runscorer in Australia's first Test-series win in India for 35 years, with only Michael Clarke and Damien Martyn notching more runs. He averaged more than 39, with a top score of 99, but has refused to make any public comment about the situation - until now.

"On both occasions I think I've done the right thing personally because I've kept my mouth shut and not done anything," he said. "I've had a few people saying they probably think I've been too nice."

But Katich also let his thoughts be known in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph, as he faced up to the prospect of not playing another Test match. "The thought of not making it back runs through your mind," he said. "You can't help but think, 'What if the guys play really well for the next 12 months and don't put a foot wrong?' They are certainly capable of doing that."

© Wisden Cricinfo Ltd