simon katich

Greg Matthews: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Greg Matthews Fumes Over Punches Not Thrown

What he said:

“One thing he got wrong was that he did not put one on Clarke when he should have.”

Former Australian off-spinner, Greg Matthews, opines on the spat between Australian opener Simon Katich and current skipper Michael Clarke.

Katich and Clarke were involved in an altercation in 2009 during which Katich grabbed Pup’s throat.

Cricket Australia have summoned Katich to a disciplinary hearing for claiming that Clarke was responsible for his Test sacking. Clarke denies the accusation.

Speaking to Foxsports, Matthews said:

"Can anyone truly, and I don’t care if the press are here or not, can anyone just truly say to me what did he get wrong?”

Matthews added:

If a guy speaks his mind, wouldn’t you rather hear what’s really going on in there, the way it really was?
Who would you rather go into war with? This cat (Katich) or Clarke? Or Andrew Symonds for that matter? Everyone forgets about Andrew Symonds getting flicked as well. Truth doesn’t happen in this game anymore.

Matthews feels that Katich would have made a better skipper:

"Pick this guy (Katich) as captain, get (Tim) Paine in as vice-captain I tell you what, we’d be doing a lot better than how we’re doing today."

The disciplinary hearing is scheduled for November 21, 2011. Katich is represented by sports lawyer, Darren Kane.

In related news, Australian radio broadcaster, Alan Jones, threw his voice behind the disgruntled opener.

Speaking to the Sun Herald, Jones said:

These people want robots. Cricket Australia don’t employ Simon Katich. What’s he guilty of? He’s guilty of having an opinion … There’s not one sporting person in Australia who would agree with what’s being done to Katich.

[Cricket Australia] could not justify dismissal on merit. Now, is he a bad example? Has he behaved badly? He’s a role model to all cricketers. His standards, his manner, his values and courtesy have shone and they’re the reasons why he was touted as a future Australian cricket captain and why he was brought from Perth to captain NSW.

And now he’s being presented as some sort of pariah. It won’t wash … Cricket Australia are playing with fire.

What Greg Matthews really meant:

“What’s a punch-up without a punch?”

What Greg Matthews definitely didn’t:

“Who’s punch-drunk?”

Dean Jones: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Dean Jones Gets Over It Finally With Simon Katich’s ‘Help’

What he said:

“In Katich’s last seven innings, he averaged only 29. I averaged over 85 from my last seven hits and he calls himself poorly treated?”

Dean Jones believes that two or more wrongs actually make a right.

The former Australian cricketer and commentator, affectionately referred to as “Professor Deano”, wrote:

Maybe Katich should talk to guys like Tom Moody, Jamie Siddons and Jamie Cox about how they were treated. Then he might think he has been treated better than he first thought.

Brad Hodge has been quite flippant on his non-selection, but it is sad he hasn’t played more for Australia. Unfortunately, that is just the way the cookie crumbles and he has handled this admirably.

Jones’ piece in “The Age” was titled,”Three words of ‘communication’ for Katich: get over it”

Jones added:

Let me tell you from experience it is awful being dropped. I was dropped seven times from the ODI team from 1986 to ’94. I was ranked the No. 1 player in the world by the ICC for four years during that time. I never got any feedback and never wanted it. I realised that no matter what you say, it won’t change their opinion. So why waste the energy? When your captain and coach don’t want you, then it’s time to go. Test cricket was taken away from me and I didn’t just want to play ODI cricket so I retired.

I love Katich as a player and he is a solid bloke. But, really, he is 36 and you don’t have to be Einstein to know that the selectors would pick Hussey and Ponting before him, no matter what he thinks of Clarke. My advice to Katich is to mentor the kids in New South Wales. Let me tell you from experience, he will get a lot of fun out of it!

When your international career is finished, you feel something has died in you. It is hard to deal with. Depression can take over. This is a time when your support network must help you. One day you are in the inner sanctum and you owned the dressing rooms, the next day you’re not allowed back in. It is a gut-wrenching experience and it will take Katich a year or so to get over it.

It took me two years to get over my sacking. I just put all my effort into the Vics. I got a huge amount of fun in helping the likes of Hodge, Elliott, Williams, Harvey and others. There is so much pleasure in helping young kids following their dreams trying to play for Australia. I hope Katich does the same. He still has so much to offer to Australian cricket.

Players of today want more feedback from the selectors. Well that’s OK, as long as they accept the fact they might not like what the selectors have to say! Ultimately, the players must work it out for themselves.

What Dean Jones really should have said:

“Katich, I’m impressed by your oratory. Why waste your time at the crease when I have an open spot for you in the commentary box?”

What Dean Jones definitely didn’t:

“Katich and I are to co-author a book,’A Walk Down Aussie Cricketing History: Selectors’ Foibles and Follies Lovingly Recalled.’”

Dale Steyn Will Not Burn Himself With Philip Hughes’ Frying Pan

What he said:

One of the things we said was that we didn’t want to bowl wide to him, and then we did. It was one of those childish things where you say to a kid, ‘don’t touch the frying pan, you’re going to burn yourself’, and then you end up touching the frying pan and burn yourself. The English side found a way of getting him out, and quite easily getting him out, so I will go through those videos. I’m a little bit wiser, a little bit smarter now.

South African pace spearhead, Dale Steyn, points out that he is much wiser now, unlike in 2009 when he allowed Australian opener, Philip Hughes, to collar the bowling and score a brace of tons in his debut series.

Hughes has struggled ever since once English bowlers discovered that he was uncomfortable against anything targeted at his ribcage. Hughes recently made a successful comeback under Michael Clarke in Sri Lanka scoring a century in the final Test and averaging 40.40. South Africa face Australia at home in a curtailed two match series.

Steyn said:

”Obviously he opens the batting for Australia, so anybody who is a good player can score runs somewhere along the line, but he will definitely have his weaknesses. We haven’t played a lot against him since then, so I will have to go through a couple of things and see where we went wrong and hopefully we can rectify that.”

The No. 1 fast bowler in the world had only words of praise for Hughes’ predecessor, Simon Katich:

The way he moves around the crease, he is able to control where he wants to hit the ball. It’s incredible.

It’s surprising that he is not there because he is one of those real Aussie players, a gutsy, strong character. He even looks like the epitome of an Australian opening batsman from years back. In a weird way I’m quite happy he’s not playing, but you want to compete against guys like that, and for his sake I think he should be there.

Katich has been dropped from the side—a victim of Australian selectors’ youth policy.

What he really meant:

“Recall how we handled Virender Sehwag the last time India toured here;Hughes is a poor Australian’s  version of the Delhi Butcher.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I never heard of mental disintegration.”

Ricky Ponting: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

What he said:

"I would have liked to have another old bloke around the group with me, yeah."

Ricky Ponting “pines” for Simon Katich’s company in the Australian side. The former Australian captain and Michael Hussey are the only senior cricketers in the current Test squad. Ponting believes that Katich’s dropping is a warning shot across their bows by Cricket Australia selectors.

What he really meant:

“Hussey and I could do with some company—our age.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“We’re geriatric.”

Bryce McGain: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

What he said:

“’The Australian cricket team is not an AFL, NRL, or rugby team.”

Veteran Australian leg-spinner, Bryce McGain, is aghast at the “blatant ageism” showcased by national selectors in the unceremonious dumping of opening batsman, Simon Katich, from the list of 25 centrally contracted players. He believes that comparisons to rugby or football are odious since it’s not about creating even competition between international sides.

What he really meant:

“It’s about KIS—Keeping It Simple. Just choose the top 25 players in the country.”

What he definitely didn’t:
”The older we get, the stupider others seem.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Protector of the “endangered” (Satire)

RANCHI—

In breaking news, it is learnt that India’s cricket captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was approached—jointly—by the West Indian Players Association (WIPA) and the West Indian Cricket Board (WICB) to become the brand ambassador of Caribbean cricket.

The  bodies-at-loggerheads—through Dhoni—seek to drive home the message that West Indian cricket is under threat of slow extinction and needs revival to  promote continuation of a joyous, carefree brand of island cricket.

Continue reading →

Cricket:Mamparas,”hee for chasey” and natural replacements

Cricket lovers have Graeme Smith to thank for enriching their vocabulary last weekend.

The South African Test skipper was “Mampara Of the Week”—selected by the nation’s leading daily, The Sunday Times. It is a moniker reserved for politicians and businessmen but ‘Biff’ trumped all contenders last week with his “wishy-washy apology” to the South African public for his side’s early exit at this year’s ODI World Cup in India.

Mamapara roughly translates to “idiot”. I must admit—“You b****y Mampara” has a nice ring to it.

Sachin Tendulkar—in the sunset of his career—is an inspiration to older cricketers. Simon Katich is the latest to pay obeisance. The West Australian cricketer—in his press conference—slammed Greg Chappell ,rightly questioning his credentials as a selector as he pointed out his inability to predict the master bat’s recent heights.

“Elder cricketers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but bad selectors.”

Rushing to Katich’s defence  was minister of defence for the realm, Stephen Smith. Australian politicians love their cricket and their cricketers.

“If he’s not in the top 25 Australian cricketers – and I can’t find one better opener than him on that list, let alone two – then I’ll go hee for chasey.” said the minister. An Aussie phrase learned here—take note,English language lovers.

The West Indians have been shafted once more. Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth have opted out of the India-WI Test series citing injuries. Indian fans don’t seem to care. The boys in blue have ratcheted up wins—rising to the occasion. Who’s to say that Praveen Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun won’t?

The trio of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli seem natural replacements for RahulDravid,Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.

There’s oft a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip, though.

Remember the dynamic duo of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif?

Kaif languishes in the minor leagues of domestic cricket whereas Yuvraj "blundered" from strength to strength.

ODI success does not instinctively translate to Test level. Yuvraj Singh will testify.

Quote of the day:
Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well. Think about it. – Elias Schwartz

Related articles

Stephen Smith: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

What he said:

“If he’s not in the top 25 Australian cricketers – and I can’t find one better opener than him on that list, let alone two – then I’ll go hee for chasey.”

Australia’s federal defence minister, Stephen Smith, criticises Cricket Australia’s omission of Simon Katich from the list of 25 centrally contracted players.

What he really meant:

“If Simon Katich is not a current top 25 Australian cricketer, I’ll be hornswoggled.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Who’s Chasey?”

Simon Katich: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

What he said:

“He [Sachin Tendulkar] is an inspiration to all of us older guys, because he was written off a couple of years ago, ironically by one of our selectors, and the fact is he has proved him wrong.”

Simon Katich informs the Australian press that selectors are not infallible, pointedly referring to Greg Chappell’s comments on Sachin Tendulkar in the past. 

What he really meant:

“If Sachin can bat, bowl and field—at his age—with the abandon of youth, can’t I, too? A big X for Greg.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Greg prodded and spurred Sachin to greater heights.”

“Saurav Ganguly will vouch for Greg’s excellent track record.”

Simon Katich: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

“If you pay peanuts you get monkeys.”

Simon Katich makes no bones about his displeasure at Cricket Australia’s selection policies in a press conference outlining his cricketing future.

What he really meant:

“Australian selectors are chimpanzees.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I’m very ape with Cricket Australia’s decision not to renew my contract.”