Katich interview

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Hardknocks,greatknocks

Simon Katich tells David Sygall about the key moments o his cricket career> photography DLR PHOTO + GETTY I

NOVEMBER 2010 Inside C

Tenacity is the cornerstone o Simon Katich’s cricket career. The New

South Wales captain and Test opening batsman has endured plenty osetbacks in his 14 years as a frst-class player but has survived througha combination o courage and determination. He broke into the WesternAustralia team in the 1996-97 season and a year later topped 1000 runsas the Warriors won the She feld Shield. In 2002 he upped stumps orSydney. His mates teased him that he moved or a girl – now his wi eGeorgie – but he reveals he had other things on his mind, notably how to

become a better player o spin bowling. He had already made a Test debut,against England in 2001, but struggled to cement his place in the side. In2007 he was told his Test career was likely at an end but Katich re used to giveup and is now enjoying a sustained run at the top o Australia’s order.

MY WAY Simon Katich

imon Katich has fought toothnd nail for his Test place, andhese days is among Australia’s

most consistent performers



nside Cricket NOVEMBER 2010 NOVEMBER 2010 Inside

Playing in England‘I think English cricket has helped menormously. The rst stint I had, at Durham in

2000, was a huge eye-opener. I’d never beeno England be ore and I ound the wickets to beotally di erent to what I’d ever experienced. Itwas a tough battle or six months, playing lots oricket. I was only 24 and it was a big wake up calls it showed me very clearly what was expected o

me i I was going to play international cricket.‘‘Then I had two or three years rom 2003

onwards with Warney at Hampshire, and then Ihad a stint at Derby in 2007. I wasn’t supposed togo but James Hopes got injured in February, theyontacted me in March and I was there by April.made a heap o runs and it’s amazing what’s

happened because o it. All my county stintshave been really positive experiences, getting mygame in order and learning more about battingnd how my game operates.

Moving to NSW ‘I made the decision to move rom WesternAustralia (2002) mainly because I knew I had toget better at playing spin bowling. Coming romPerth, it’s harder to improve because you don’t

ace a lot o spin bowling and when you do, theonditions are easier. I wanted to become a Test

batsman and that meant I had to become a better

all-round batsman. Over ve days, the Test pitchdeteriorates and some o the best bowlers in theworld are spinners, so it was clear to me what Ihad to do. Coming to NSW also helped my bowlingbecause it gave me a chance to be used at times.

‘‘It certainly wasn’t easy to leave thestate where I’d played or six years and woncompetitions. And there was pressure in that Ihad to con rm to my teammates in NSW thatI could earn their trust and respect. I was verypleased with the results o the move. My battingstarted to become much more complete and mycareer started to move orward.

My frst Test hundred‘‘Scoring your rst Test century con rms thebelie in you that you can succeed and that youbelong at the top level. That’s what it’s all about.I scored my rst hundred at the SCG in early2004, against India. It was a tight Test. Indiamade about 700 and we didn’t bat until late onday three, so it was ver y taxing on us. It was 1-1in the series and it w as Steve Waugh’s last Test,

which added a lot to the occasion.

‘‘The ocus was rightly on Steve but, or me,

the monkey was li ted o my back during thatTest because I knew rom then on that I could dothe job in Test cricket.”

Getting dropped in Sri Lanka‘‘I was dropped in Sri Lanka a ter scoring ahundred in my previous Test and that took mequite a while to deal with. Addressing situationslike that is di cult and this one was particularlydi cult. You never eel that you have cementeda place in the Test team, but I truly elt I’d earnedmy spot, having played well against the Indians inAustralia and then per orming well or the Blues

that summer and scoring a hundred in the tourmatch in Sri Lanka. I couldn’t have been morecon dent in the way I was playing at the time.

When you’re at the top o your game andyou get dropped, it’s pretty disappointing. Ithit me hard because I didn’t know i anotheropportunity would come up. I got a bit suckedin to making some comments a terwards whichshowed how upset I w as. I probably should havehandled it better. Sometimes it’s better to justkeep your mouth shut, but at the time it mighthave been better just to get it out and expresshow I elt. The whole event was an importantexperience or me rom which I learnt a lot.”

My best Test innings‘‘The best knock I’ve hit in Test cricket was in SriLanka in 2004 when I got back into the team.Andrew Symonds played the rst two Tests andI got back in or the third at Colombo. I wasbatting with Justin Langer in the second inningsand we were about 5-40, in big stri e. I was

acing Murali, it was day three or our and the

ball was spinning all over the place.‘‘I batted or about ve hours, scored 80-odd

and we won the Test. Your best innings aren’tnecessarily your biggest ones. And that wasthe one or me. It gave me a huge amount ocon dence because I realised I wasn’t going toget more o a challenge than acing Murali ona turning pitch in Colombo w ith a Test on theline. To come out o it succe ss ully was hugelysatis ying and really set me on the right course.”

Working with Bob Simpson ‘‘A huge turning point or me was when Istarted working with Bob Simpson just a terI got dropped rom the Australian team in late2005. Bob reached me through Errol Alcott,who was still our physiotherapist at the time.He said he’d watched the Ashes and noticedthat I was doing a ew things wrong. He o eredto work with me and told me he thought hecould help me turn things around and getback into the Test side.

‘‘With everything that was going on at thetime it was a big con dence boost to have Bobso keen to help. I was nearly 31 and realised itwas going to be a tough task to get back in, butto have Bob being really positive and telling me Icould turn it around was really important.

‘‘The rst six months I did a air bit o workwith him. A ter that, in 2007, I went to play atDerby and couldn’t see Bob as much. However,we would speak regularly and he’d keep an eyeon me. I also worked with NSW coach MatthewMott during that time and both o those guysplayed a big role in that stage o my care er. I stillcatch up with Bob whenever possible and chatabout things.”

Getting married‘‘I probably haven’t complimented my wi eand amily as much over the years as I could

In April 2007 I woke up to a messagefrom selector Andrew Hilditch.

He said I’d been cut from the national contract list and . . . it was going to takesomething very special to regain my spot”have. They all know individually how importantthey’ve been in my career, but publically I haven’texpressed it. Getting married and having thesupport o my amily, my wi e’s amily and our

riends has been a huge part o my career.‘‘Georgie and I married in 20 06. We’d known

each other since 2000. We’d met in Sydney whenI was playing or WA. It helped make things easier

or me when I came to NSW to live. I think a ew othe boys thought Georgie was a big reason why Ile t WA to play in NSW.”

Being axed rom the Contract list ‘‘In April 2007 I was in England at D erby andwoke up to a message on my phone rom Andrew

Hilditch. In the message Andrew told me I’dbeen cut rom the national Contract list and I wasprobably not going to play Test cricket again. Hetold me that it would take something very special

or me to regain my spot.‘‘I was turning 32 and thinking to mysel that I

had two options – either let my career go down thedrain, or I could do something about it and workmy way back. My whole mindset changed romthat point on. I wasn’t sure how much longer I wasgoing to play cricket and decided to just enjoy itas much as possible, no matter where or at whatlevel I was playing. That meant at Derby, with the



Inside Cricket NOVEMBER 2010134

There aretimes you’d

love to be playing all forms at the highest level. But I had my chances in one-day cricket and didn’t make the most of them. Being dropped has been a blessingin disguise”

Blues and playing club cricket. And I did that. Ienjoyed my cricket a lot more, scored lots o runsand gave mysel the best chance o regaining myposition. I had a great season with Blues, we wonthe Pura Cup and I managed to get back into thenational team. It was extremely satis ying.”

My 2007-08 season or the Blues‘‘At no point during 2007-08 did I think about

again playing or Australia. I mostly put it outo my mind because it seemed to have passedme by. However, there was a small part o thatthought lingering in me, as there were someolder guys in the Aussie team who were going toretire soon and I knew that whoever was scoringthe most runs at that moment would givethemselves the best chance o lling the role.

‘‘Mostly, though, I was ocused on winning thePura Cup, as captain o NSW. It’s amazing whathappened out o that. I put all my personal stuto the side and was able to help NSW win weeka ter week. It was a great season o cricket or meand or our team.”

Being dropped rom the ODI team‘‘It ended up being a good thing or me. I’d longbattled in the one-day team and I knew that itwasn’t my strongest orm o the game. I was betterat our-day cricket and though I was disappointedto be dropped rom the one day team, it turnedout to be a blessing in disguise. It enabled meto play more or the Blues, which helped me

get back in the Test team, but also to have thatbalance o not being away as much. That hashelped me to be more stable and ocused on Testcricket. It’s made my li e a lot better.

‘‘There are always times you’d love to beplaying all orms o the game at the highest level.But I had my chances in one-day cricket anddidn’t make the most o them. You have to lookat the positive side o things though, and this has

had a positive e ect in that it helped me in myquest to get back to the Test team.

Great captains and coaches ‘‘I’ve been privileged to play under some greatcaptains and coaches who have taught me somuch. At WA I played under Tom Moody andWayne Clark early on. As mentors they were bothmagni cent. They were a big infuence on me.

‘‘When I moved to NSW, Steve Rixon wasantastic, and Steve Waugh speaks or himsel .

I also played under Shane Warne at Hampshire,which was a great experience. Matthew Mott’sbeen brilliant here at NSW, too.

‘‘Tom, as captain, would get things done, leadrom the ront and was good tactically. He had

the respect o everyone in the team. Motty comesrom a di erent place. He had to ght or his spot

in the team at Victoria and Queensland, so hisperspective on coaching and the way he relatesto players is di erent to Tom’s. It’s an example othe wide variety o people I worked with and thewide variety o styles I’ve come across.”

Documents

Katich interview