12 June,2011 07:19 AM IST | | IANS
Australian batsman Simon Katich, who has been denied the central contract, has launched a scathing attack against the country's cricket administrators and squarely blamed the selectors for the Ashes failure. The former Test opener said he spoke for many players who felt aggrieved with the way they had been treated, reported The Australian. "There needs to be more consistency. The facts are that a week or two before the Ashes a squad of 17 was named. In my opinion, if you can't know what your best 11 is a week before our biggest series then that to me reeks of indecision," said Katich.
Simon Katich
"The fact that we have had 10 or 11 spinners in the last three years, that to me is another indicator of the inconsistency in selection. There's been rules for some and rules for others." Katich, who announced he would continue to play for NSW, was asked if he thought the selectors' indecision had destabilised the squad before the Ashes. "I have got no doubt it did and I am sure there are other players who would say the same thing because there are so many guys looking over their shoulders about whether they were going to play or not," he said.
"If you compare it to how England prepared, they were settled, they played the same team in all their warm-up games and it was no surprise that they had a very good campaign." Katich, who averaged more than 50 as a Test opener and 45 over his career, is furious that selectors claim he was dumped to allow a new opening partnership to be ready for the 2013 Ashes. Australia will play Sri Lanka, South Africa and the No.1 ranked India this summer.
The batsman was the second-highest scorer in world cricket in the three years prior to his axing. "As far back as when I started my career, playing for Australia has always been about bottom-line performance," Katich said. "When I got picked for my first tour in 1999, you got picked because of your performance; now it seems that that's changed and it's not only about performance it is about potential." Katich's management was advised it could launch a successful legal action against Cricket Australia under age-discrimination legislation, but the 35-year-old told them not to follow through, the report said.
