Kat's guts not enough, nine lives are up
THE Kat is on the mat. Kicked. Skinned. Gutted. Belled. And almost certainly at the end of his nine lives.
With the dumping of Simon Katich, the Australian cricket team has lost one of the world's best openers and lost that old-fashioned grit and determination that has been missing in recent seasons from its flighty batsmen.
The conspiracy theories started early. Tweets bounced between hemispheres wondering if the infamous dressing-room scuffle with new captain Michael Clarke could explain the baffling decision to disregard one of the world's highest-scoring batsmen over the past three seasons.
An old cricket writer used to advise us that when faced with the choice between conspiracy and c**k-up, always choose the latter. Particularly where this selection panel is concerned.
Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch claims Katich had to go because he and his fellow wise men are planning for the next Ashes series.
Makes you wonder how much the panel rates the coming series against Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand and that cricketing backwater called India, which happens to be here this summer.
The Kat has been on the mat before. Selectors have, over the years, done their best to end his Test career.
In Sri Lanka in 2004, Katich had just scored a century in a tour game when they put him in a weighted sack and discarded him for Andrew Symonds. He fought his way out and played again.
He was dumped after the 2005 Ashes disaster and rightly so. His technique had drifted and his scores were low. Although, it might be argued a poor decision from an umpire cost him the chance of a century and Australia the chance of an important fourth Test victory.
Katich lost his contract after that and most people thought he was gone for good, but he tweaked his technique and scored 1506 runs for NSW - the most any domestic cricketer has made in a Sheffield Shield summer.
Injuries to Matthew Hayden and then Phil Jaques saw Katich offered another chance at Test level - and he grabbed it with both hands.
Since returning to the side he has averaged more than 50 runs an innings. His ability to dig in at the top of the order has been critical in the transition period of Australian cricket. He held up an end while Hayden suffered death throes in his last summer, did the same as Hughes came and went, then made hay when his new partner Shane Watson arrived.
Katich was gritty not pretty. He was prone to getting out in the 80s or 90s and, while he finishes his career with 10 centuries, he probably should have had many more.
He trudged to the wicket like a soldier heading to the front and looked like a man working down a salt mine as he picked away at the rock face to fill his bucket. It might have been his Croatian heritage.
When the last Ashes summer turned turtle, Katich was battling an achilles injury.
He should not have played in Adelaide but was asked to battle on because somebody had to take the shine off the ball.
By the time he came to the crease in the second innings, Katich was hobbling like an old man. He had refused to leave the field or hide in an easy fielding position.
In the searing Adelaide heat, Katich grafted his way to 43 before being given out to a nick behind. There was speculation he had missed it, but the opener had given his all and had no arguments left. He limped off and Australia lost by 71 runs.
Katich must now decide if he will play on for NSW. His state needs a senior player who can show the fancy young boys what it takes to make it at the top.
Australian cricket will be poorer for his loss.
