Katich set to return for the new year Test
Simon Katich, the opening batsman for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 is eyeing a return to Test cricket as he claims that he will be fit for the new years’ Test in Sydney. The fifth match of the ongoing Ashes series is going to be played on the 3rd of January. Currently
the five match series stands levelled at 1-1 with two more matches to be played.
Earlier in the series, Katich was ruled out for the remaining matches against England after he damaged his Achilles tendon during the second Test in Adelaide. The Australian felt bad about the timing of his injury as he is in the twilight of his career.
Katich said, “I’m doing all the rehab and pulling up well from the strength work so the physio's pretty happy with where I'm at and actually thinks I'm ahead of schedule."
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 player added, "You can't really put a date on it because with tendon injuries you never know until you fully test them, but if I test it next week and pull up well then who knows.
Since the retirement of Justin Langer, Katich turned himself to a top class willower. In doing so, he has racked up 4188 runs at an average of 45 in 56 appearances. He alongside Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 has build, one of the most formidable opening partnerships.
The Kangaroos definitely missed their top notch opener in the third Test at WACA. The 35-year old was replaced by another left hand batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Phillip-Hughes-c2185. In Perth, Hughes failed to make an impact with the willow as he only managed poor scores of 2 and
12 runs, respectively. However, the home team defeated their Arch rivals by a significant margin of 267 runs.
The Australian opener is confident about his progress in terms of recovering from a tendon injury. He is working on his strength and his Achilles will be tested in the next week to see how it works.
The news about Katich’s comeback will put a lot of pressure on the struggling opener, Hughes. In addition, Hughes has another chance to prove his worth as a top class international player as Katich will certainly miss the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
On the other hand, the wicket in Melbourne will be much easier to bat on, so Hughes will have a fair chance to stamp his impression on the National selectors.
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