Zeecric Bureau
Sydney: Winning the inaugural season of the Champions League Twenty20 has been one of the highlights of his career, so feels New South Wales’ captain Simon Katich.
Katich returned back to Sydney on Sunday after beating the West Indies’ team of Trinidad and Tobago in Champions League T20 finals, winning USD 2.5 millions for his team.
“I’m very proud of everyone,” Katich said in the Daily Telegraph. “We needed everyone firing and everyone did a great job right through the tournament. It’s certainly one of the proudest moments I’ve had in my cricketing career.’’
Katich’s strategic planning and execution during the tournament was appreciated by one and all. His key ideas included that of opening the bowling attack with spinners Nathan Hauritz and Steven Smith in the last two games. The move’s success handed the NSW Blues team a 41-run victory in the final.
Stuart Clark, another star performer for the team, ranked the victory as the third most satisfying achievement in his entire cricketing career.
“I think international cricket is always the pinnacle,” he told the Australian. “The Ashes series in Australia is my greatest cricket memory and achievement, I only played one game in the [2007] World Cup, but for most people that is second and this to me runs third, but it is a very close battle between one, two and three,” Clark added. He took nine wickets at 12.44 in the CL tournament.
Clark, however, added that this success is quite different than the rest and each victory holds a different meaning for him.
“This win meant so much for all the NSW people sitting at Moore Park and for all the young guys in our team, some who may never play international cricket,” he said. “This is the highlight of their careers and they will thoroughly remember it.”
Clark said Steve Smith and Moises Henriques’ performance had improved by leaps and bounds and their effort was evident in the tournament. “Moises’ improvement shows day by day and he is going to be an Australian player as soon as there is a spot available,” he said.
“Steve Smith is on his way too. You would think the writing is on the wall for a 20-year-old who can bowl leg breaks, given there are not too many leg-break bowlers around in the country. Then there is Phil Hughes and David Warner, sometimes they need a bit of guidance but they are super players with super talent.”
