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Full name Simon Mathew Katich
Born August 21, 1975, Middle Swan, Western Australia
Current age 32 years 270 days
Major teams Australia, Derbyshire, Durham, Hampshire, Kings XI Punjab, New South Wales, Western Australia, Yorkshire
Nickname Kat
Playing role Batsman
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Slow left-arm chinaman
Height 1.82 m

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	23	38	3	1260	125	36.00	2548	49.45	2	8	155	3	15
ODIs	45	42	5	1324	107*	35.78	1926	68.74	1	9	138	4	13
T20Is	3	2	0	69	39	34.50	47	146.80	0	0	8	2	2
First-class	179	305	42	14347	306	54.55			39	76			168
List A	208	200	22	6779	136*	38.08			7	53			94
Twenty20	25	24	7	706	75	41.52	550	128.36	0	3	67	12	13

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	23	13	659	406	12	6/65	6/90	33.83	3.69	54.9	0	1	0
ODIs	45	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
T20Is	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
First-class	179		5219	3152	80	7/130		39.40	3.62	65.2		3	0
List A	208		823	766	24	3/21	3/21	31.91	5.58	34.2	0	0	0
Twenty20	25	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Career statistics
Test debut	England v Australia at Leeds, Aug 16-20, 2001 scorecard
Last Test	Australia v West Indies at Brisbane, Nov 3-6, 2005 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	Australia v Zimbabwe at Melbourne, Jan 21, 2001 scorecard
Last ODI	Australia v West Indies at Kuala Lumpur, Sep 24, 2006 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	New Zealand v Australia at Auckland, Feb 17, 2005 scorecard
Last T20I	South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg, Feb 24, 2006 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1996/97
Last First-class	New South Wales v Victoria at Sydney, Mar 15-19, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1995/96
Last List A	New South Wales v Victoria at Sydney, Feb 20, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Hampshire v Sussex at Southampton, Jun 13, 2003 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils at Mohali, Apr 27, 2008 scorecard

Profile

There were several outstanding achievements in Simon Katich's 2007-08, as he broke the record for most runs in a Pura Cup season, captained New South Wales to the first-class title and registered his highest score, along the way plundering nearly 200 in a session. Arguably the greatest individual honour, however, came after the summer had finished when he was recalled to the Test squad for the tour of the West Indies. It was an aim that must have seemed barely attainable when he lost his Cricket Australia contract in the 2007 off-season and signed a five-year deal with the Blues. But the selectors could not ignore his 1506 Pura Cup runs at 94.12, which surpassed the previous best in a season, Michael Bevan's 1464 at Tasmania in 2004-05. Katich was named Pura Cup Player of the Year and he was the Man of the Match in the final victory, when he scored 86 and 92. His campaign featured five centuries, including 306 against Queensland, which was the highest first-class score at the SCG since Don Bradman made 452 in 1929-30. Unbelievably, 184 of Katich's total came in an extended 150-minute post-lunch session.

Rather than trying to prove anything to the Australia selectors who axed him - he conceded he was struggling at the highest level and deserved to be dropped - Katich was simply enjoying batting without the expectation heaped on an international player. He had also worked on some technical issues that plagued him during in 2005, when he was upset by reverse-swing in the Ashes and was bamboozled by Muttiah Muralitharan in the Super Series. Katich was soon downgraded to an ODI role only, but he could not hold down that spot as his top-order wariness was overshadowed by his fellow opener Adam Gilchrist. He was overlooked for the World Cup squad that triumphed in the Caribbean and had to settle for 711 Pura Cup runs at 64.63 in 2006-07 and leading the Blues to a final loss.

Ever since he was included in Western Australia's state squad in 1994-95 he looked destined for bigger things. His talents were on show in 1998-99 when he amassed 1039 first-class runs, including 115 in the final won by Western Australia, and earned a spot on the tour to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Katich was on the brink of a Test call-up in Sri Lanka when he contracted chicken pox and was quarantined. Unable to free himself of a virus that overcame him in the wake of that illness, he was forced to sit out much of the 1999-2000 domestic summer, but after a stellar 2000-01 - 1282 first-class runs and a century against every state - he was picked for the 2001 Ashes tour. Replacing the injured Steve Waugh for the fourth Test, he made 15 and 0 not out on debut and had to wait two years for an opportunity against Zimbabwe, when his occasional left-arm chinaman bowling was surprisingly effective. He took 6 for 65 in the second innings in Sydney, which became his home when he switched to New South Wales and accepted the captaincy. Returning to the SCG later in the summer against India, he registered his maiden Test century and helped to ensure Waugh's final Test ended in a draw instead of a loss. He was in and out of the side in the next couple of years but his vicious first-class assault in 2007-08 helped him regain his Cricket Australia contract.
Cricinfo staff April 2008