Former Australian batsman Simon Katich admitted it was difficult to come to terms with being dropped from the side immediately after scoring his maiden Test hundred.
Katich scored 125 and 77 not out in the fourth and final Test against India at the SCG in 2004 and looked to have cemented his position at No.6 in Australia’s batting line-up for the foreseeable future.
The left-hander was controversially overlooked for all-rounder Andrew Symonds for the first Test of the following series against Sri Lanka and Katich says it was a decision that was hard to take.
“When I did get into the team in that 2003-2004 series against Zimbabwe and then India, I had a really good series against India and then Steve Waugh retired,” Katich told This Is Your Sporting Life.
“In the next series we played in Sri Lanka and the balance of the team they wanted more of an all-rounder at No.6, and I got dropped for the very next Test match after I made my maiden hundred for Australia in the Sydney Test.
“That was something that was tough to take. We’d gone to Sri Lanka, I got a hundred in the tour match, was playing as well as I ever had, had a really good summer for New South Wales and the next thing you know I got dropped from the team.
“I understand why, obviously Andrew Symonds is a lot better all-rounder than I was and was no doubt better suited to batting at six than I was as well.
“But at the time I probably didn’t realise that, and it took me a while to come to terms with being left out when I felt that I had earned my spot in the team.”
Katich would go on to play 56 Tests for Australia, scoring 4188 runs at an average of 45 with 10 centuries.
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Listen to Simon Katich’s chat on This Is Your Sporting Life with Peter Donegan in the player below