Former Oz opener Katich retires from first class cricket

Sydney, Jun 12 (ANI): Former Test opening batsman Simon Katich, who was axed from the Australian team after the 2010-2011 Ashes series defeat due to differences with skipper Michael Clarke, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket.

His demotion from the Test team was highly controversial and his tense relationship with Clarke has been played out heavily in the media.

Katich was also stripped of the New South Wales captaincy last year in the Sheffield Shield competition.

The 36-year-old is currently playing with Hampshire in the English County competition and is committed to play for the Perth Scorchers in the Champions League Twenty20 in October.

Katich released a statement through Cricket Australia citing prioritising his young family as the reason for his retirement, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The West Australian played 56 Tests for Australia, scoring 4188 runs at an average of 45.03.

Starting out with Western Australia at State level, Katich went on to star for NSW and amassed 19,667 first class runs in his career. (ANI)