Axed Australia opener Simon Katich has hit out at Australia's selectors after being dropped from the list of 25 contracted players.
Left-hander furious at omission from list of contracted players
Axed Australia opener Simon Katich has hit out at Australia's selectors after being dropped from the list of 25 centrally contracted players for next season.
The 35-year-old was overlooked with Cricket Australia insisting they wanted to blood a new-look and younger opening partnership with the 2013 Ashes series in mind.
But the move has prompted a fierce backlash by former players and media pundits with many observers making fresh calls for the head of chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch.
Katich has performed solidly in the Test arena over the past couple of years and that despite being troubled by thumb and Achilles injuries which required him to play through the pain barrier.
The left-hander boasts a career Test average of over 45 from 56 matches and admits he pulled no punches when informed of the decision to drop him by Hilditch.
"Do I think I have been treated fairly? Not at all, not at all," stated former Derbyshire and Yorkshire batsman.
"From my point of view I have had to play through injuries in the last four Test matches, two with a broken thumb and two with a torn Achilles.
"I didn't want to play Test cricket like that although I know that is what they have judged me on."
Vented spleen
A similar fate befell Katich in 2007 when he was informed that his Test career was at an end before battling back to re-establish himself in the side.
"It's funny, I have been treated like this before by them," Katich continued. "I have been down this path a number of times.
"I spoke my mind, I certainly didn't hold back. There was no shirking the issue, but there was nothing said that was personal it was just about the decision.
"I vented my spleen about the decision and explained why. There was no name-calling or anything like that."
He claims his latest rejection was made all the more hard to take by the fact that he had been working so hard to get himself back to peak fitness ahead of the upcoming season.
"Up to Tuesday I had done three weeks' training ahead of the rest of the squad starting and I did that because I wanted to be ready and firing in Sri Lanka," he added.
