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Australian Test opening batsman Simon Katich expects the turmoil surrounding the England team to settle down under newly-appointed skipper Andrew Strauss and doubts it will impact on this year’s Ashes series.
English cricket has undergone a turbulent week with previous skipper Kevin Pietersen resigning and coach Peter Moores sacked following a rift between the two men.
Only six months remain before the start of the five-Test Ashes series, but Katich believes Strauss, who captained the team briefly in 2006 against Pakistan, will be able to unify the England dressing room.
“I think he’s shown in the past that when he’s been given the reins he’s done a good job and his form recently has been good, which is probably another big factor,” Katich said.
“As a player, if you are confident in your own game it helps with your captaincy as well.”
Katich, who will captain NSW for the first time this season in a Twenty20 match against Tasmania in Sydney on Monday, was speaking from experience.
He enjoyed a record-breaking domestic run-scoring campaign as NSW skipper last season and has firmly established himself at the top of the Australian order in Tests.
Katich was left out of the Australian one-day and Twenty20 squads and said he harboured no hopes of a recall to either.
Instead, he wants to build on his fabulous Test renaissance during which he has scored four centuries and five half-centuries in his last 11 matches.
Asked what he would have thought 12 months ago if someone had told him he would now be an established Test opener, Katich said: “I probably would have laughed because really it all came by chance.
“I wasn’t supposed to play in the West Indies but Matty (Hayden) got injured and then the same in India, Phil (Jaques) got injured and I managed to play well and carry on that form from last summer.”
Jaques and pace bowler Stuart Clark are both expected to return from injury over the next couple of weeks and join Katich in the NSW team for a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania at the end of the month.
With David Warner in the Australian Twenty20 squad and Phil Hughes out with a hip flexor injury, Katich said he would probably open for the Blues on Monday, but expected to battle in the middle order against Tasmania.
While Katich’s fortunes have risen, 37-year-old Hayden’s have declined, but Katich chuckled when it was suggested his opening partner’s average had dropped because his had improved.
“I don’t think I’ve been bowling to him if people want to blame me, I think that’s pretty harsh,” he said.
Asked if he felt Hayden should continue his Test career, Katich replied: “Yeah, obviously he’s a champion.
“He’s played for a long time and has an unbelievable record, so those of us that are now trying to fill his shoes at the top of the order, they are big shoes to fill, for me it’s been great opening with him and I look forward to seeing him hopefully continue.
“If he continues on then he’s obviously going to have a crack at the Ashes, because it’s a huge tour and the last time we lost there, so he will be keen to make amends.”
Katich played a straight bat when asked about the possibility of Jaques or Hughes pushing for Hayden’s Test spot, saying: “There’s plenty of guys putting their hands up for selection.”
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