Simon Katich – Cricket Australia

Ricky Ponting has stated that he was shocked to learn the decision of the Australian Cricket Board for not including Simon Katich in the centrally contracted players list.

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Cricket Australia provided shocking news to Simon Katich when the Test Opener was dropped, as he was not included in the centrally contracted list of players. For this, Simon Katich slashed the Board for such a decision and especially for the reason stated to him. The opener stated the board decision as ‘absolutely ridiculous” to which Pointing said that Katich’s comments were justified. However, Katich revealed that he will continue to play club cricket for New South Wales.

Ponting stated “It’s fair to say Katich didn’t hold back in his press conference and rightly so as well,” Ponting said on the Nine Network’s AFL Footy Show. “To be omitted from the contract list was a great shock to him. It was a shock to me. His performance in the last two or three years has been as good as anybody’s in the world.”

The decision taken by the Australian board has created a massive pressure on Ponting and Michael Hussey- both over 35 left, to perform. More pressure needs to be handled by Ponting following his poor showing in the last two years where he averages 38 in Test Cricket compared to Katich’s average of 48.

Ponting said “It puts us 36-year-olds on notice now, Mike Hussey and myself,” he said. “It’s going to make us work that little bit harder. I would have liked to have another old bloke around the group with me. But it means a young guy gets a go and hopefully that guy can stand up and do the job for us.”

Former Australia spin magician, Shane Warne commented on the selection panel saying that it was lot easier to drop Katich than Ponting. Warne stated “It’s a lot easier to drop Simon Katich than Ricky Ponting.”I think what they’re trying to do at the moment with Ricky is to say, let’s take the captaincy off him and let’s see how he goes. I think they’ll give him a bit of a trial but I think if he’s not performing then hopefully he’ll put his hand up and say ‘you know what, I’m going to retire’.”

However, Katich is now out of the Australian team and it is official now. The selectors have come under a lot of pressure after their shocking decision of keeping Katich out, although he performed on a continuous basis. This has surely created a massive pressure of Ponting though, as the former skipper is struggling with his batting for quite a long time now.

Tags: Austalia, Australian Cricket Board, Club Cricket, Cricket Australia, New South Wales, Ricky Ponting, Simon Katich