Katich slams CA
Sydney: Simon Katich said he is extremely “disappointed and frustrated” with Cricket Australia’s (CA) decision to sack him but denied that new captain Michael Clarke had any hand in it.
He and Clarke were involved in a dressing room tiff two and a half years ago but Katich insists it does not have a bearing on his sacking.
“I don’t think that was an issue,” Katich was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph. “We had a professional relationship.”
CA chairman Andrew Hilditch told Katich he had been dumped during a four-minute phone conversation Tuesday.
“I am extremely frustrated and disappointed with the decision,” Katich said.
“I also want to make it clear that I am not the only player who has gone through this over the last couple of years due to an inconsistent selection policy.”
“I just hope that something good comes out of this situation because I thought the decision was absolutely ridiculous.”
Katich said he spoke his mind to the selectors.
“I spoke my mind, I certainly didn’t hold back. There was no shirking the issue, but there was nothing said that was personal. It was just about the decision,” he said.
“I vented my spleen about the decision and explained why. There was no name-calling or anything like that.”
Katich announced he will continue to play for NSW out of respect for the state’s cricketers and administrators but admits that at 35 his international career is over.
He said the rejection was hard to take as he had been working hard to get himself back to peak fitness ahead of the upcoming season.
“Up to Tuesday I had done three weeks’ training ahead of the rest of the squad starting, and I did that because I wanted to be ready and firing in Sri Lanka,” said Katich, three days after being sacked from Australia’s list of 25 contracted players.
Katich confirmed he had explored legal action for wrongful dismissal.
Katich has given solid performance in the Test arena in the past couple of years with a career Test average of over 45 from 56 matches. (IANS)