Саймон Катич: Австралиялық крикетшінің өмірі мен мансабы

Australian cricketer

Simon Matthew Katich (born 21 August 1975) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. He captained New South Wales and also, until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club. Katich also played for Lancashire, represented his birth state of Western Australia and played in Indian Premier League for Kings XI Punjab. Katich was also a member of the Australian team that won the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. He played primarily as a left handed opening batsman and part time left arm unorthodox spin bowler. He played 56 Test matches for Australia from 2001 to 2011. On 12 June 2012 Katich retired from first class cricket in Australia, but returned to play for Western Australia in 2013. In August 2019, Katich was appointed as the head coach for Royal Challengers Bangalore, and was present at the 2020 IPL Player Auction in Kolkata in December 2019. He is also a commentator for ABC Radio Grandstand and the Seven Network.

Katich was an AIS Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder in 1996. and made his debut for the Western Australia state team in the 1996–97 season. The following season he was a central figure in Western Australia's Sheffield Shield success, scoring an impressive 1,039 first class runs for the season.

The 2007–08 domestic season could only be described as a triumph for Katich. He scored 1,506 runs to break Michael Bevan's all time Pura Cup/Sheffield Shield record for runs in a season as NSW romped home undefeated to claim their 45th title. Aside from being given the honour of captaining NSW in the Pura Cup final against Victoria, Katich also contributed scores of 86 and 92 to lead the match on run aggregate as he had done for the season overall. He was also crowned the Pura Cup player of the year for his 1506 runs at an average of 94.12. The highlight of Katich's season was undoubtedly his 306 against QLD at the SCG, an innings in which the last 200 runs came at better than a run a ball. It was the first time since Sir Donald Bradman that a player had scored 300 at the SCG, and an innings which the Sydney Morning Herald called "superb". Peter Roebuck later claimed Katich should be the Australian cricket captain after Ricky Ponting came under fire during the January 2008 SCG Test. During the coverage of the final, Damien Fleming described Katich as a left handed V. V. S. Laxman for his dominant bottom hand and willingness to hit through the on side. Katich's season culminated with his recall to the national side for May tour of the West Indies. He cemented his place in the Test team with scores of 113 and 157 in the second and third Tests respectively. For his performances in 2010, he was named in the World Test XI by the ICC. He was also awarded the Men's Test Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony by the CA in 2010. Despite his heroics, Katich, a former team mainstay, blamed Michael Clarke for effectively ending his career once he became captain in revenge for a post match incident several years earlier which saw Katich grab Clarke by the throat following a row about the singing of Australia's team song in the dressing room.

In October 2015, Katich was appointed as an assistant coach of Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders. In 2019 he was appointed as head coach for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was replaced during the 2021 IPL and in December 2021, Katich was named as assistant coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad for IPL 2022 season. On 18 February 2022, he resigned from the assistant coach role of Sunrisers Hyderabad due to differences with the franchise's auction strategy. In September 2022, he was named as the head coach for MI Cape Town in the upcoming SA20 League.

Katich attended Trinity College in Perth, Western Australia, where there is a cricket pavilion named after him. He married Georgie Willis in May 2006. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia. Katich is of Croatian descent. His father's parents were born in Croatia and emigrated to Australia in the 1920s, eventually settling in Perth. His father, Vince, was a police detective who helped play a part in the capture of serial killers David and Catherine Birnie. Katich and his wife Georgie became parents in 2011 when their son was born. Katich formerly held the role of football operations manager of the Greater Western Sydney Giants AFL club. Katich is Catholic and is quoted as saying, "My faith gives me a focus in how I lead my life and go about my cricket."

He captained New South Wales to victory in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 in 2010.