Aussie team meet over Simon Katich axing

SYDNEY: A player meeting has cleared the air after opener Simon Katich’s controversial axing ahead of Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka next month, captain Michael Clarke said on Friday.
Clarke called the players together so they could express their views behind closed doors in the fallout over the senior Test opener’s dumping from Cricket Australia’s central contracted list.
Katich reacted by revealing there was unease within the Test team about selection decisions, while Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson have publicly expressed their surprise over the opener’s treatment.
Clarke said after the team meeting every player was prepared to focus on the Sri Lankan tour starting with an Australian training camp in Brisbane this week. “We had a couple of really good meetings on Sunday night, which were really open in an environment where guys were comfortable to voice their opinion,” Clarke told reporters.
“It was a closed environment which gave everyone the freedom to be themselves and say what they feel, get everything on the table. It was very positive.
“I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to say what they had to say and take it on board — as a group, we can now work together.
“We all walked out of that looking forward to what was in front of us.”
Clarke said players won’t be “looking over their shoulder” on the Sri Lankan tour, where he will make his debut as fulltime Test captain since taking over from Ricky Ponting, who remains in the Test team as a batsman.

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