Simpson to help Katich improve his tweakers

October 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian Premier League (IPL) teams might be on the brink of exit but the New South Wales Blues and Sussex Sharks skippers feel it is too early to rule them out of the Champions League Twenty20 race. IPL champions Deccan Chargers, runners-up Bangalore Royal Challengers and Delhi Daredevils all lost their first matches and are now fighting to stay afloat in the tournament.

October 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - New South Wales Blues captain Simon Katich feels that experience will play a crucial role in adapting to challenging conditions on Indian pitches in the Champions League Twenty20. The Australian opener scored a classy 53 on a slow track at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium to steer Blues to a convincing 53-run win over South Africa's Diamond Eagles here Friday.

October 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Stuart Clark and Brett Lee bowled inspiring spells to guide New South Wales Blues to a 53-run victory over Diamond Eagles in the opening Group B encounter of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Friday. Chasing a target of 145, Eagles made 91 for nine in 20 overs with Ryan McLaren scoring 40 off 37 balls.

October 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - South African cricket selector Mike Procter might be pitching for specialists, but the Australians have a different take on it. Cricket Australia (CA) has been encouraging all-rounders and is now reaping the benefits.

September 16th, 2009 LAHORE - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is hoping that the encounter between India and Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy would help improve ties between both the countries. PCB's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Wasim Bari said the match would help remove the distrust and improve bilateral relations which had deteriorated after the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

September 8th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Australian Twenty20 captain Michael Clarke has declared himself unavailable for New South Wales for the inaugural Champions League cricket tournament to be played in India next month. The tournament brings together 12 teams from around the world, divided into four groups of three.

August 30th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Australia needs a street fighter like Simon Katich to trigger a revival, after calls for sacking of Ricky Ponting in the wake of the Ashes loss under the Tasmanian's captaincy for the second time in four years Australian cricket has lost the ruthless cutting edge cultivated by Steve Waugh that made them one of the most feared teams, according to former players. Former Test wicketkeeper Steve Rixon said Ponting is a magnificent batsman, but he will never be regarded as a great captain, and added that Australia have lost their killer instinct under him.

August 26th, 2009 SYDNEY - New South Wales Test stars Stuart Clark, Simon Katich and Brad Haddin arrived back in Sydney this morning, and immediately stepped in to defend Ricky Ponting's captaincy credentials, though he has become the second Australian skipper to surrender the Ashes twice in England. "Ricky Ponting has got my full support and I think he's the best man to be captain.

August 23rd, 2009 LONDON - Australian opener Simon Katich, who top scored for his side in the first innings of the Oval Test (50) and is batting in the second innings with 42, admitted on Saturday that the visitors have an uphill task before them, but added that the will to fight to the end is still there. ''You never know, you just have to keep believing and keep fighting.

August 22nd, 2009 LONDON - Australian opener Simon Katich has predicted a fierce Australian fight back in the Ashes decider after England's Stuart Broad blitzed the touring side's batting line-up at The Oval. Some 23 years after his father Chris batted England to victory in the 1986-87 Ashes series, Stuart put his side on track for more glory by capturing 5-19 in 47 balls in a superb 12-over spell in London.

July 10th, 2009 CARDIFF - All-rounder Andrew Flintoff has called on his teammates to recall the Ashes spirit of 2005 and lift themselves to combat the Australians more aggressively in the ongoing first Test here. Flintoff's call came as the Australians came up with a score of 249 for the loss of Phillip Hughes's wicket in reply to England's 436 all out.

July 10th, 2009 CARDIFF - Australia captain Ricky Ponting and opener Simon Katich, who scored unbeaten centuries on Thursday to take their team to a formidable 249 for one at stumps in reply to England's score of 436, said they were inspired by the painful memory of the 2005 Ashes series loss. Both veterans combined for an unbroken 189-run partnership in an attempt to bat England out of the first Test.

July 8th, 2009 LONDON - Australian batsman Simon Katich, who is Phillip Hughes's captain at New South Wales, has said that he had initially doubted the then 18-year-old's Hughes talent in 2007 Katich said he and Cricket NSW chief executive David Gilbert had heated arguments over Hughes in 2007, where Katich believed that Hughes was not ready for first-class cricket - as he could not handle the short ball, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. However, when Hughes scored an undefeated 51 on Sheffield Shield debut, Katich's fears were dispelled.

July 7th, 2009 CARDIFF - For Australian opener Simon Katich, participating in an Ashes tour is all about fighting back. Revealing that captain Ricky Ponting and coach Tim Nielsen have introduced a ritual within the Australian team, in which each player is asked to tell his teammates why the Ashes is special, Katich recalls that he has been telling his mates of a past that has left deep scars, but one that has helped him to become a more resilient character.

July 4th, 2009 SYDNEY - With the Ashes series scheduled to begin in less than a week's time, former Australian spin legend Shane Warne has rated each player of the Australian squad. Warne has indicated that captain Ricky Ponting is the mainstay of the batting line-up, who would be full of motivation on his fourth Ashes tour.