Simon Katich

Simon Katich

Australia

Full name Simon Mathew Katich
Born August 21, 1975, Middle Swan, Western Australia
Current age 31 years 192 days
Major teams Australia, Durham, Hampshire, New South Wales, Western Australia, Yorkshire
Nickname Kat
Playing role Batsman
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Slow left-arm chinaman
Height 1.82 m

Statsguru

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	23	38	3	1260	125	36.00	2548	49.45	2	8	155	3	15	0
ODIs	45	42	5	1324	107*	35.78	1926	68.74	1	9	138	4	13	0
Twenty20 Int.	3	2	0	69	39	34.50	47	146.80	0	0	8	2	2	0
First-class	153	262	34	11314	228*	49.62			30	60			142	0
List A	186	180	21	6172	136*	38.81			7	48			85	0
Twenty20	12	11	3	374	59*	46.75	299	125.08	0	2			5	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	23	659	406	12	6/65	6/90	33.83	3.69	54.91	0	1	0
ODIs	45	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0
Twenty20 Int.	3	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0
First-class	153	4973	2986	78	7/130		38.28	3.60	63.75		3	0
List A	186	823	766	24	3/21	3/21	31.91	5.58	34.29	0	0	0
Twenty20	12	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	England v Australia at Leeds - Aug 16-20, 2001
Last Test	Australia v West Indies at Brisbane - Nov 3-7, 2005
ODI debut	Australia v Zimbabwe at Melbourne - Jan 21, 2001
Last ODI	Australia v West Indies at Kuala Lumpur - Sep 24, 2006
Twenty20 Int. debut	New Zealand v Australia at Auckland - Feb 17, 2005
Last Twenty20 Int.	South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg - Feb 24, 2006
First-class span	1996/97 - 2006/07
List A span	1995/96 - 2006/07
Twenty20 span	2003 - 2006/07

Notes

State Player of the Year - 2004

Profile

For Simon Katich 2005-06 was the most difficult season of his career. Lost from the Test radar after being bamboozled by Muttiah Muralitharan in the Super Series and failing against West Indies, he spent the rest of the summer clinging to his one-day spot ahead of Phil Jaques and Matthew Hayden. But as he sat in the Gabba's gymnasium after his first ODI century helped Australia to a come-from-behind victory in the VB Series finals, he knew he'd survived. "It's one thing I've managed to do this summer - hang in there," he said. The sleepless nights could stop for a while. Despite being the pyjama side's third-highest run-scorer in Australia last summer, Katich also knows the top of the limited-overs order, a vacancy he has filled since being touted as a World Cup opener in 2004-05, will not be a safe seat. As Adam Gilchrist's rockets launch in the first 15 overs, Katich deflects arrows and absorbs punches as he follows the team management plan. His batting is not pretty or powerful and he may not be many young boys' role model, but the side recognises his importance as a vital role player, especially in a top-order crisis.

A batting backlog is blocking a Test return and at 30 Katich faces a fight against the clock to add to his 23 matches. Ever since he was included in Western Australia's state squad in 1994-95 he looked destined for bigger things. His talents were on show in 1998-99 when he amassed 1039 first-class runs, including 115 in the final won by Western Australia, and earned a spot on the tour to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Katich was on the brink of a Test call-up in Sri Lanka when he contracted chicken pox and was quarantined. Unable to free himself of a virus that overcame him in the wake of that illness, he was forced to sit out much of the 1999-2000 domestic summer, but after a stellar 2000-01 - 1282 first-class runs and a century against every state - he was picked for the 2001 Ashes tour. Replacing the injured Steve Waugh for the fourth Test, he made 15 and 0 not out on debut and had to wait two years for an opportunity against Zimbabwe, when his occasional left-arm chinaman bowling was surprisingly effective. He took 6 for 65 in the second innings in Sydney, which is now his home after switching to New South Wales and accepting the captaincy. Returning to the SCG later in the summer against India, he registered his maiden Test century and helped to ensure Waugh's final Test ended in a draw instead of a loss.

Dropped for the first two matches in Sri Lanka in 2004, he was elevated to Ricky Ponting's place at No. 3 in India later that year and played with an eerie calmness. The highlight and lowlight came in the same innings - his 99 in the third-Test victory at Nagpur. His good form continued in Australia's tour of New Zealand in 2005 when a silky hundred in the first Test was overshadowed by yet another violent innings from Gilchrist, but his elegant display sealed his spot for a second Ashes tour. The troubles of the past year began in England when he was upset by the reverse-swing and was downgraded to a one-day only role shortly after returning home.