Auckland, Nov 5(ANI): The continuing stoush between dumped Australian opening batsman Simon Katich and captain Michael Clarke has put even more stress and strain on Phil Hughes as he strives to rubber-stamp his Test spot, cricket Journalist Ben Dorries has said.
"Hughes was always going to have incredible pressure on his shoulders in South Africa next week even before Simon Katich's self-serving outburst. How must Hughes be feeling now, given the man who has always been one of his chief cricketing mentors has blown up in such a dramatic and petulant way?" Dorries wrote in an article for news.com.au.
"Hughes may have scored 126 in his last Test innings in Sri Lanka, but his overall Test record since his memorable debut series in South Africa in 2009 has been shaky to say the least."
"Before the little left-hander scored his Sri Lankan century, his previous 19 Test innings had produced just one score over 50 and he was sensationally dropped in the middle of the 2009 Ashes in England," he added.
Dorries says that in Hughes's favour heading into Wednesday's first Test in Cape Town is his remarkable record in South Africa where he has scored 415 in three Tests, including two centuries, at an average of almost 70.
"The proof will be in the pudding with Hughes in the two Tests in South Africa. If he scores big runs, his baggy green cap will be assured and he can start looking forward to the Australian summer with fresh confidence. But if he fails, and especially if his technique gets mixed up and he is dismissed in ugly fashion, the knockers will come out of the woodwork," Dorries wrote.
"And the voices of the Katich supporters, whose numbers have diminished after his continuing attacks on his Test axing, will get louder and louder," he added.
Earlier, last week, Katich had suggested that an infamous dressing room incident between Clarke and himself at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in 2009, where he grabbed the then vice-captain by the throat, had impacted on his contract eventually being torn up.
Clarke, however, had said that he had nothing to do with the axing, and added that Katich's latest outburst were not good for the team's morale, and therefore, he wouldn't be rushing to bring him back into the national squad.
Katich has been reported under the Cricket Australia Code of Behaviour provisions relating to Detrimental Public Comment.
If he is found guilty, he could be banned from state games for New South Wales and fined up to 5,750 pounds. (ANI)
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