No ban for Simon Katich over Michael Clarke criticism

The opener receives reprimand over critical comments about Australia captain Michael Clarke.

Simon Katich believed his history with Michael Clarke would count against him returning to the Australia team.

Simon Katich, the opening batsman, was reprimanded yesterday for comments he made about the role Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, played in his losing a central contract with Cricket Australia (CA) earlier this year.

Katich suggested in October that an incident at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2009, when he put his hands around his teammate's throat, had contributed to his losing his contract in June and made his recall to the Test side unlikely.

The 36 year old pleaded guilty to a charge of "detrimental public comment" at a CA disciplinary hearing in Melbourne and escaped a fine or ban.

"I am very happy with the result," Katich said. "It was never my intention to go against Cricket Australia's code of conduct ... I'm just glad this matter has been dealt with in a fair manner."

Clarke, who angered Katich in 2009 by asking the Australia team to sing their traditional victory song early so he could leave to meet his girlfriend, had suggested Katich's comments would not improve his chances of a recall to the Test team.

"Since becoming a selector I've made it clear in plenty of press conferences that I've done that the door's certainly not closed on anyone, but in saying that I don't think his comments are certainly helping him get back into this team at the moment," he said.

Meanwhile, Australia named an unchanged side for the second Test against New Zealand in Hobart, which starts on Friday.

* Agencies