Test Match Special - No Balls: The Cricket Podcast - Katich us if you can!

Episode Date: August 19, 2021

Manchester Originals men's coach Simon Katich talks through his career and reveals who he'd most like to be stuck on a desert island with. Plus, Kate and Alex feel a bit delicate.

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Hartley Falls. Down the track comes scoring this time she connects. It's either six or out. It's six. Hello and welcome back to No Balls, the cricket podcast with me, Alex Hartley and you, gate cross. I'm laughing, because you've not even put any of that on for effect. No, crossy, we're in a world of pain.

The hundreds finished. We got let out. We had our first boogie for two years. And I'm a mess. We are a shambles. It's currently 10 to 4 in the afternoon. I'm still in my pajamas. I've not showered yet.

I missed the bus. You did? You missed the bus. I missed the bus home. I got a text from Crossy this morning at 5 to 10 being like, miss the bus, can you take me home? Oh my God. What a night we had, though.

Oh, it was so good. Genuinely, one of the best nights out that I've ever, ever had. It was so good, wasn't it? I was genuinely really emotional yesterday. It was our last game in the 100. Actually, welcome back to No Balls of Cricket podcast, guys. We're going to be a bit better than the first minute was. But, yeah, last game yesterday, I was emotional after the game

because we had a really tough start to the tournament, didn't we? We had that crisis meeting and we somehow managed to finish the tournament on a really big high and it felt like we achieved something as a group. We have achieved something as a group because we turned the tournament around and right now at this very moment of recording, we are fourth in the table. Fourth in the table, like one point away from qualifying which just goes to show how quickly things change in tournament cricket. But it was amazing, wasn't it?

Like, we've all absolutely loved it. I, like, for anyone that's watched it on the sidelines, it's been so much fun, or looks like it's been so much fun being in the crowd and watching, it has been incredible to be a part of. And that's with all the COVID restrictions and, like, the difficulties. We didn't even, a week before the tournament, we didn't know if it was going to happen, did we?

Think how many hangovers we could have happened. Thank. But we're home. We haven't been home together. Probably since the start of the tournament. Yeah, we've got a wash on. We're trying to sort our lives out. So if you hear the washing machine, sorry,

you'll obviously hear the trams going past. We are back home. Lizelle and Minion. We've got to talk about those two. I don't know what to say. Belters. Absolutely incredible. I'm so sad they've got to go off and play international cricket

and not be with us for the rest of the year. But their episode was so much fun. They're brilliant. Yeah, it was. That's how they are in real life, isn't it? They're like a little married couple. I'm just bickering. I mean, Minion's probably in Tesco now, isn't she wandering around?

Probably. Mask off, no COVID. Enjoying herself. I wonder if she's made it down the fruit aisle. I actually want to say as well, guys, when we play cricket, you go on social media after the game, you go through your Instas, you go through all your tweets. We now have to go through all the no-balls tweets as well because, oh my God, you guys have been incredible supporting us through this talk. Like, we've seen everything. we've read everything we've seen all the bottles in the crowd we've seen all the pictures of people

there supporting us it's been so so good to see hasn't it's been amazing nobles fans psychopaths on tour you have done us proud psychopaths and thought psychopaths in the club last night someone came up to us and was like i listen to the podcast he pointed at me and went you i went oh right he's quite good-looking one then so i went over and he went Alex hartley i went oh no he went i listen to the podcast yeah wow But yeah, we've genuinely, we've loved seeing what you're all getting up to and that you're watching us and supporting us. And we actually had a no-ball's day, didn't we?

Yes, we did. And I didn't realize we did. It was in the London Spirit game at Old Trafford. We took all the wickets, me and thee. That is right. I mean, we only took five between us. I think, did we do, oh, so I've cleaned up at the end yesterday, but we did only have the...

We had a few yesterday as well, didn't we? I'm quite emotional, Al. I'm hung over. I'm emotional, I'm probably going to cry. Oh, God, right, why are you going to cry? Why are you emotional? Because a few things, actually. Personally, I was under quite a lot of pressure going into that tournament.

The selectors has basically said to me, for me to get into the T20 stuff, I need to have a good tournament. And I've come out of it, like, genuinely really proud of myself. And I never really say that when I've come out of any kind of cricket tournament. Because you normally do shit. Exactly, yeah. But I'm just, I think what Paz said it yesterday in the dress room, Steve Harry, our coach, he was just like credit to the players for actually turning it around because it was all on us.

Like we decided that we were going to play cricket, how we wanted to from that fourth game onwards. And there's been so many tears. There's literally been blood, sweat and tears, gone into this. And I say blood because I'm looking at my finger because I split it open at Headingley. Oh my God, we've not even spoken about Headingley. Headingley. We always win at Headingly. Heardinley.

Heardinley loves us. We love Headingley. Not the boys. No, because they went for 200. And there was actually at one point, the win predictor said 100% chance that superchangers were going to win that game and there was still 70 balls left. Oh, that wasn't a good day for the boys, was it? But 200 was always going to be brought up at some stage and it was a crazy game of cricket. It was a mental, wasn't it?

But we'd played before it. We knew it was a good pitch. But I actually thought at half time the boys could chase that down. I thought if Phil Salt gets going It's only like chasing 230 and a T20 Which has been done before Yeah, but I mean you go into a game like that And you know you're going to lose 95% of the time though

Yeah probably But it just needed one person to go And Carlos if he got going And he scored 100, you just never knew Anyway, blood sweat and tears Actual blood because I somehow managed to split my finger open Speckys only though Went for a Speckys only

Like eyes lit up and I was like Oh this is going to go viral This will be catch of the tournament And then I turned around My finger was hanging off You chased the ball to the boundary afterwards and you're like, what's wet? And it was blood dripping down your arm

and I was like, I put my spikes on yesterday and there was just blood all over them so that wasn't a good day. But yeah, blood sweat and tears gone into the tournament. And I'm just, I was just so proud of the girls yesterday and everyone seemed to really enjoy it and that's what we said going into the tournament, wasn't it?

Fim really helped, isn't it? Fim. Friends of Manchester? Personally, I went 72 balls without taking a wicket. Then we had the Finn meeting. and then I started cleaning up. Well, there you go. Finn.

Do you know why, when you started taking wickets as well, which I noticed, when I stopped bowling you in the power play? Strange. I wonder if you had a bit too much pressure on yourself. Yeah, maybe. I don't know, I think I was bowling too quick, too slingy. Yeah. And I watched it back and I were very monkey-like.

Yeah, you get really round arm, don't you? You get really low. And that's when I'm like really tight, all in my side and just when I'm just trying a bit too hard. I think I bowled my free hit delivery yesterday because there was a no ball I actually probably bowled it underarm my arm was that low but hey-ho

hey-ho let's go have you got anything on your sticking out yeah I've had a dark day today oh okay oh I thought you were going to talk about some of my arms really dark day and I had a really dark day on Saturday yeah that's what I thought you were going to talk about yeah we trained 9 to 11 yep and then we had a team meeting and I shot straight to the Oval for comms.

I was on the TV. I was doing my prime time TV debut. Nice. So I couldn't... Have you not been on TV yet? I've been on TV but not like good times. Oh, right. Okay.

Like Saturday night, telly. Okay. Yeah, and I was late. I was on air at 3.15. It was 3 o'clock. Had the wrong postcode. Oh, no. I was stuck in a car park

because it was like this really tight car park. So I put my car in drive, put my foot down. I'd actually put it in reverse and went straight into a wall. Oh. Alex. And the beauty of you and social media is that everybody knew about it within three minutes. I was stuck in traffic else. I might as well tweet about it. Oh, for God's sake. Yeah, shocker.

But it's all right. The car's all right. You're all right. Yeah, everything's all right. The money I earn from Saturday, half of it to the taxman, half it on the car. Brilliant. Waste of a day. You also spoke into an ice cream live on the BBC. If anyone hasn't seen that, I've tweeted it. What a clown. Wow. Yeah. So I had an ice cream in one hand and a microphone. on in the other and I spoke into my ice cream. Very good. Very good. What's on your sticky note? Let me get mine up.

There's not much, you know. Oh, actually, there's a bit of discrepancy wasn't there about your hat-trick ball. So I thought we could discuss it. Okay, yeah. So you took two wickets in two balls and the final, your final two deliveries of one match. And then you took a wicket with the first ball of the next match. So technically, you took three wickets in three balls. But it wasn't a hat-trick.

It wasn't a hat trick. It is a hat trick. Henry Moran, our producer, likened it to Gary Linneka scoring two goals against United, then one against Southampton, not a hat trick. When you put it that way, it's not a hat trick. But it is. We said, we got down on Stump Cammer, we're like, hat trick for anyone that is listening. So yeah, I've got that written down. I've also got down Sue Redfern. Sue fell over. Sue fell over. So I have to get my uncles strapped every game now because they just rich tea biscuits and my sister's our physio and she just went oh I've just one minute I've just got a nip out someone wants me so I'm like pretty much prep getting a bit stressed because my sister's not theirs she comes back I said where have you been I also need my finger strapping I need my um tricep strapping as well you're actually falling apart yeah I'm literally getting

strapped back together to get on the pitch um and I said where have you been and she said oh sue just needed her ankle taping oh bless there's a Sue Redmond for nastily, I have her biscuit ankles. Yeah, so she's part of the Rich Tea Biscuit Club now. Well, that's what happens when you trip over. But I've written her down because I've been bowling at her end so much. I've been bowling no balls at her end as well. Yeah, you have.

You've bowled quite a few, actually, haven't you? I think that genuinely means I'm, like, in a good rhythm because it means that I'm running into the crease, which is quite a good thing for me. Speaking of no balls, Jasbit Bumra has been promoting our podcast, hasn't he? We were trending. Yeah, we were trending yesterday. Nobles, trending on Twitter. Yeah, so thanks to all you psychopaths for getting us trending.

Yes. So kind of bummerer as well to be the, what's the word? Ambassador for Nobles. Maybe we should make him our first ambassador. Yeah, so Alex Hales is an honorary member. Honor remember, yep. Bummerer, ambassador. And we actually saw Alex Hales yesterday at the game and hadn't seen the tweet.

And so we showed him the tweet and he loved it. And he thought it was very funny. He did say he'd come on the podcast. Yes. That's not going to happen, though. not reckon no absolutely no well more chance to get in just bit bummer i reckon as our ambassador oh i tell you what i do want to read out actually we had an incredible email did we yeah i had a message off someone on instagram and it says i've been a proper fan i've been proper

fan girl in this hundred fantastic competition i know those of people who are kind of into cricket who are hooked into the format but i'm gutted the originals aren't going to get to the knockout stages as I've absolutely loved watching you all play. I've got three kids who all play at sale. So my two girls have been eyeing you all up for a few weeks. We train at sale. We do. First off, I want to say thanks to you both for being so normal. My poor kids have me as a mum and I'm a priest so I don't think parents could get more LBW than that. I'm a priest. I didn't even know priests were a thing anymore. I also thought they were only men. Yeah, that's true. Oh no, because there was a priest on Gogglebox. Do you remember the lady on Gogglebox?

box oh yeah um where am i the day i was ordained as a priest my family ditched me and my ordination service to go to the west indies slash new zealand match hashtag brathway loved lizelle and mignon this week i'm adding space bowler to my CV you and alex have done so much for girls cricket watching the originals last week my girls were discussing how they would have played that shot if they'd have run or not but their biggest question is do you ever get stage fright that's a good email because like we do this podcast because we want to be relatable to people and people are now like listening and taking on board things we're saying and like we're inspiring a new generation of cricketer and i think we're also because people now can see us play cricket when we started

this podcast there was a massive global pandemic everyone like with these and everyone's like what they do how do they know anything about cricket and now they get into see us play see us actually practicing what we preach about enjoying ourselves having fun you know working hard and going through those ups and downs which is probably exactly what the hundred was for us wasn't it yeah and they're seeing that live now and stage fright yes do i get stage fright do you get stage fright when you're doing your comms work on the telly no really because i always treat it like i'm doing an interview and i think doing this podcast has really helped me with that kind of stuff um in terms of the stage fright with the cricket

I really love it I would much rather play in front of a big crowd yeah same than nothing than nothing yeah and I do get nervous like don't get me wrong out there's been a few games I've been properly anxious before we go out but then I think as soon as we ran through the archway and we all got in our little huddle

and the fireworks had gone off I was that right it's cricket time yeah yeah I always like the first ball I'm like deep breath yeah got this but it's just been so much fun like I've laughed every single time we've been on the cricket field yesterday I tripped off my own feet Yeah, that was a good one.

Ellie Greilkeld, tripped over the stumps. It's just been fun. Yeah, I think my biggest thing is when I'm nervous like that, it's just being really clear when I get to my run-up. Yeah. And, like, knowing what I'm going to bowl. And I think we're probably lucky because we know we impact the game straight away, so I know you're going to bowl first ball.

Yeah. So I think if you're, like, when I play international cricket, I'm waiting for the ball to come to me in the field, and then I'm like, right, you can get yourself into the game then. She says, P.S., can original sign, and Minion next year, love them both. PPS. Spuds. Spuds. Can we sign Lazelle and Minion? Well, that's not up to us, but I bloody hope so. I really hope so, yeah. We've got a guest this week, Rossi. We have got a guest this week. And we recorded this a week ago, when we were less

fragile. So if our voices sound different and we sound a bit more upbeat, we hope you enjoy. Al, I'm very, very excited to introduce our guest to No Balls this week. We've actually got a lot in common with our guest. He's an Ash's winner, not World Cup winner, just found out that. We have got Simon Katsich on the podcast. Welcome to No Bulls. My pleasure to be. Thank you.

Well, you've actually been begging to come on. Since we started this competition, so we thought we'd better get him on now. So I said we've got a lot in common. So you're a former Lancashire player. Me and Alex have grown up playing our cricket here at Lancashire. You're the RCB coach currently Massive RCB fan Are you?

Who's your favourite player? Do you know what? It's Coley for the following But Maxwell Love Glenn What about Chahal? Your best mates with Chahal aren't you? Do speak to Chahal a bit

It doesn't surprise me about Maxie Because he's well loved around the world But also given that he's a Lancashire boy as well Yeah exactly Do you know what I love the team I'm a team girl Yeah No it is a good team

So hopefully when we finish the IPL In a month or so's time we'll get that elusive title. Yes. No, no way. CSK are currently sitting top of the table. Oh, shut up. We're not getting into this.

More in common, Western Australia. I've played a couple of seasons over in WA, and slow left arm spinner. You used to bowl a few, yeah, leggies and the odd wronging from time to time. And it's amazing how many half trackers and full tosses get wickets. So, deep midwicket was my main mode of dismissal. I wish I had that problem. Every time I ball a half tracker or a full toss, it goes out the park.

Yeah, it's because we play. on too short a boundary we need to get those ropes pushed out um we've actually done a lot of research this morning um do you know we're going to get straight into it what you and mike atherton have in common you know what's funny about this is that he actually told me many moons ago and i think it was he interviewed me during the 2009 ashes before the series started and we're in worcester i think and he and he said oh we've got something in common and i said oh what we opened the batting and we're really And we played a lankshire and all that. And he goes, no, something else.

And I was thinking, I have no idea. And then he said, I can't smell. And I was like, no way. Because I don't know that many people that can't smell. But that's what I've been blessed with. I call it a blessing because when you're around a dressing room of smelly males for the best part of 20 years, it was a blessing. So you can't smell a thing.

The only thing I can smell is like Tiger balm and Deepet, that really strong sort of menthol. But otherwise, food, perfume. Flowers, nothing, absolutely nothing. So how do you know if you've got COVID or not? That's a good question. I do the lateral flow test. Like a good lad. Yeah, we found that really interesting, actually.

That was our first bit of... No balls. Yeah, this is no balls. I told him that we don't really talk about cricket. But actually, our standard question for any guess that we have is how did you get into cricket? I think, like a lot of kids in Australia, I grew up watching it on TV. So Channel 9 had it. And, you know, back in that day, it was sort of the early 80s when I was in my, you know, youth, watching the West Indian teams.

And I grew up idolizing the West Indies. So my idol was Saviv Richards. And I just loved watching and play on TV. And that's where the love came from because I've got Yugoslav background. My grandparents were born in what is now Croatia. And there's no history in our family of cricket either on dad or mum's side. So, yeah, it's just the way it played out was from watching it on TV. Did you play any other sports?

Could you have gone into professionally any of the sports? I played Ozzie Rules football as a kid, which I loved. And I probably had a footie in my hand more than a cricket bat. And I would have loved to have played it, but I just didn't think I was probably physically capable or big enough because those boys are serious athletes. Whereas cricket, you can get away with a lot in cricket. Correct.

So I've taken that option. Although when you talk to the footballers, they go, how do you guys face someone that bowls 150Ks an hour? It's like, well, how do you guys tackle 120 kilo bloat running out your full steam ahead? So it's like, it's just what you get used to. But, yeah, I loved footy, and I played a bit of hockey at school as well. But I don't think I would have been, you know, as talented as potentially what I did with cricket. But it was my passion and that's what I followed.

Who's your footy team? Richmond Tigers. Yes. Same. Yeah. So they won it back in 2017. 2017. Yeah.

And I went over to W.O. It was my first season. And they were playing the Crows. Correct. And I just said, who's going to win this game? And everyone said the crows. So I said, right, I'm going to support the Tigers. So I've been a Richmond fan ever since.

They won again in 2019, and then they went last year as well. And it had been probably nearly, I think it was 1985. Yeah, we had a drought, didn't it? We had a drought. Massive drought. So we've won three of the last four. This year, potentially we're going to miss out in finals. I knew that, though, following them really closely.

Did you always know that you wanted to coach after cricket? No, and this is a good question, because when I was playing, I got asked it, and having been a captain, I always thought, you know what, I don't think I can coach because when I was captain, it felt like you can have a say in how the game goes, whether as a player or with the decisions you make. And asking the coaches how they dealt with that situation, they always thought that it was, you know, it's tricky because you know there's only so much you can do. And I thought, I don't know if I'm going to be comfortable with that because you get used to it as a player for so long. and then when you lose that control, you have to deal with that. But what it taught me as a coach was that when I first took over as a coach, I thought, you know what, I've got to make sure that I trust the players because ultimately the players win games of cricket.

And that's what I've tried to keep that philosophy right the way through is that we're there to help support them and maybe guide them at times, particularly the younger players. But it's their time to shine and give them that freedom to play and learn from good days and bad days. Did you find it quite hard to adapt from playing to coaching or was it sort of did it come naturally to you? I think having been a captain it helped because I think like with coaching you are there to to help guide and teach and educate depending on where the players are out in their career.

So it's a similar role as a captain in a way because captains have to have that level of care for their players to get the best out of them. So I think it seemed to come naturally initially because I'd done that for so long as a player and captain but you know the coaching side of it then like not everyone takes information the same way so i've i've had to learn that you know there's people that i don't know that well i might have to spend more time getting to know to be able to understand what's going to get the best out of them whereas when you're a player you learn that more because you go through more things with them personally on the field and you see it firsthand whereas as coach you're removed and

you don't always get that same closeness so you've coached a few teams around the world now. So who would be your favourite team that you've coached and why would it be the Manchester originals? I'm glad you put that answer in my mind. Look, you know what? I've loved it because I think when I got approached to be involved here, like I only played a season and a bit at Manchester, but I remember when I finished and I said to the boys, it was my very last season of county cricket in 2013 and I loved it. We had a successful year and I wish I'd been able to play more here because I loved the people here. I loved the wicket, but I never got the

opportunity to because there was other players here that had done really well. And the way the boys played their cricket here was very reminiscent of Australian players. They played it hard but fair and it was good. I really enjoyed that. So, you know, it would have been nice to play more here, but now to get

the opportunity to come back and be a part at Old Trafford. It feels like being home because I spent the six months here in 2013, loved it. And, you know, the way the way the ground is, the atmosphere here is magnificent. I think it's a fantastic cricket wicket. I think it's probably one of the best in England because it spins.

It's got to be a pace and bounce, but it's also a great batting track. Was the square the other way around when you played her? Yeah, initially my first ever experience here was in 2000 playing for Durham. And I played against Heggy. I played against Chappi. I'm trying to think, I think Ganguly was the overseas. John Crawley, we ended up playing with it at Hampshire. So there was some, obviously, Lancashy had a very strong team.

And then, yeah, the wicket was the other way around. 2005 Ashes, it was the other way around. And then it changed, obviously, after that, and playing here for Lancashire, around the other way. So it took a bit of getting used to. I always forget that the square was the other way around. Why did they change it? The sun, I think.

Yeah, the sun's set. Yeah, if you think about the game the other night, the sun sets, and it was right in the batter's eye line. So, yeah, I mean, there's not often that many days where the sun shines in Manchester. So it affects two or three games a year, I think. And what's it been like starting a brand new tournament and being head coach of a new tournament and trying to coach players that you've

never potentially heard I've all seen play. Yeah look it's been a big challenge particularly from a time perspective I mean having the two roles with RCB and now with Manchester it's kept me very busy and I think had this been an established tournament it's a lot different and I've had that benefit doing IPL and CPL and stuff all that but a new tournament I've put a lot of time and effort into it as have our board and obviously the people involved here at Manchester and also Lancashire that are part of the setup. But I've loved that because I think having been through that process with the BBL, with the scorches and seeing where it's gotten to sort of after 10 or 11 seasons now,

you know, if you can get it right, it can set things up for the future. And that's what we've tried to do. We've tried to have a lot of youth. We've tried to have obviously some experience players around that. And we're also trying to build a brand that is people want to come and watch. And obviously you girls are playing a huge role in that as well. And I think the way we've tried to integrate both squads to be one club, so to speak, or franchise, however you want to put it.

I think that's where we've probably put the time and effort into trying to set a culture up that hopefully will make us successful for a long time to come. I feel like that's been really important, hasn't it? Because a lot of other teams have looked on going, well, the girls and boys are doing everything together. They're training, the boys are coming to help train, and they're like, we don't even speak to our boys or girls. It's been difficult with COVID, hasn't it?

That's been a few different. difficulties that other teams have faced, but we've genuinely sung your praises on this podcast for that one, genuine, the one team culture and the one club thing, because when we won our first game the other night, all the lads said that you'd said in the dressing room afterwards that you need to get over, have a drink with the girls, celebrate their first and only win so far. Well, they certainly did, and I think the boys took it to extremes, too, from all reports, but look, we knew we had a few days off, and I just thought, you know, it's really important because these are the memories that everyone's creating together, and you don't get that

opportunity again it's the first win it's special and then hopefully in time over years to come the players that are part of the franchise and become part of the furniture really feel the affinity with not only the fans and the and the staff but also with each other and build that camaraderie and hopefully we've done that and you know whether you win or lose that that's irrelevant really because yes you want to be successful but you know the culture of having good people and togetherness is really important to try and win titles down the track and it's so easy to say that and not do it as well. So like on that first meeting when we're like we're a one club, we're all like, right, okay, yeah, that's it, start here. And then nobody really had any

expectations on how it would happen. And then we all just naturally sort of came together. And I think that's what Manchester's about, isn't it? And that's what we want. So it's been good. It's been really good. How have you noticed then, so you've obviously been involved with some Big Bash cricket as well and grown up playing cricket in Australia. What have you noticed about the perceptions of women's cricket and how it's changed over the years and you don't have to be really positive just because we're sat in the room. No, not at all. I will be positive because my perception is, and I guess I've got a different perception to a lot because when I first started and I moved to Sydney in 2002, we shared the facilities with the New South Wales girls and

the same, they had the end of season dinner. It was Steve Ormettel, Belinda Clark Medal. So everything was shared. So I've sort of spent the last 20 years and that's sort of just how it's I remember Lisa Stalaker used to come and bowl the boys in the nets I deliberately made sure I didn't face it because I didn't want her to have the wood on me but she used to bowl to some of the younger boys knock them over and she'd let them know too, which was great. I love that.

And that's, I mean, that was brilliant for us to see that that's how it was and New South Wales cricket deserve a lot of credit for really supporting and encouraging the girls' games. So in a way, I've seen that for 20 years. So this, what we're seeing now, New South Wales cricket, that was 20 years ago and they've encouraged So it's great to see that that's happening now. And I think, you know, I don't have daughters,

but for dads that have daughters, it must be thrilled to think that, you know, there's a pathway now for their daughters to be able to go and do this and make a career out of it and really get a thrill out of putting on a show for the fans. And I think the fans have been great. We've got a great support here at Old Trafford. So I think the players are going to be blessed

to be able to call this home. Yeah. It's going to be interesting, like, in 20 years' time, for us here in the UK, what we're doing now with this talk. tournament, you know, how it's normal for you to have the guys and the girls integrated, that will then become normal for us as well. So I feel like we're in that weird middle. When you're the director of cricket. Yes, when I run this club. Yeah. I don't know what I'll

be doing because I'll find you a role somewhere. So have you applied? Because I think Paul Allett's stepping down at the moment. Is he? Well, um, have you applied for the role? I'm doing a master's at the minute to get, yeah. I thought I was doing a master's in sports dictatorship for three months and then I realized it was directorship. So I'm going to be the dictator of Lancashire cricket club someday. Right. So your head coach of RCB, you've coached, Coley, A, B, Butler, Maxwell, to name a few players, who would you most like to be stuck on a desert island with and why? Oh, God. If I don't say my wife, I'll get in massive trouble. It's got to be someone you've coached. Someone I've coached. Well, she's coached me. Does that count? I heard it all the top.

For 15 years, I heard, oh, that was a shit shot or what are you doing? What are you doing playing that shot for? Why'd you hit it there? I get that from my dad. So it's the other way around. But yeah, in terms of someone I've coached, I tell you what, I coached in the CPL for a couple of years, and that was my first opportunity as a head coach

when I was at KKR as an assistant, but I got the head coach role at TKR, and I got to coach the West Indian boys there, and they were a huge amount of fun. So we had Bravo. We've had Carlos on, and he's told us that cricket gets in the way of the CPL. It does.

It's a party told me. And I realized early on that, you know, the Australian way of, obviously been really disciplined and training hard and all that after about the first session of doing fielding for about, I reckon it was maybe a minute and a half max. And I was thinking, you know, we'll be able to do 10, 15, 20 minutes of fielding because that we pride ourselves on our fielding at home and that's going to be important to winning a comp. After about a minute and a half and I saw the reaction of the boys there, I thought, you know what, two minutes is going

to be enough. That'll do us. And you know what we did? And this was probably the best decision I made during that tournament was I said, boys, every day we're going to play football for warm up or soccer is whichever way you call it and the boys played that like they actually brought their own football boots they played it that hard and but they promised me no one would hack each other or take each other down and that got them going every time we played and they played really well and the rest followed so so who do you want to be stuck on a desert island with did i say bravo no no let me think oh geez that was a tough one because we had i feel like it's going to need to be someone who's quite reliable and quite um bare grills if you know who bear grills is someone who can

help you out on the desert island yeah and that's what i'm thinking i'm thinking probably has to be one the kiwi boys yeah they're probably most to be like most like mcgiver you know that that old tv character so yeah stuck on a desert island um who i've coached i know who i'd have you know it'd be a lot of humor with it'd have to be maxi yeah he's not getting you off the desert island but you're having a good time. Correct. Yeah, definitely. Okay, nice.

Well, so you've got A.B. Coley and Maxie in the same team at the minute. When you have players like that, do you need to coach them or do you just let them kind of do what they need to do and they come into the environment and they know how to play their cricket? Like how do you approach that as a coach? Yeah, it's a good question. I think, you know, with Virad in particular, you know, his technique is, you know, near perfect. So. I'd get him out. I would.

I'd bounce him. Would you bump him out? Yeah, no, he doesn't like the bumper, does he? You know, it's interesting. A 72 mile an hour bumper. Yeah, because, you know, he's the perfect player in that respect. I mean, his record across all formats is unbelievable. And so I guess from my perspective, I've been amazed at how open he is to receiving feedback on any part of his game.

And I think that's what makes him, you know, the standout player of this generation because he's still willing to take things on board and ask for advice if he needs it. so that that suggests a level of humility and also a level that he knows that he wants to be the best and get to the best so like i've loved seeing that as a coach i think where i've probably tried to um you know speak to him most about it's probably more around the tactical side of the game as a leader and also you know how to get the best out of the group and that's a big part of my role as coach so i've probably just tried to support him more than anything rather than coach him with anything and same with ab these guys know how to play the game

game. They're some of the best T20 players that the world's ever seen. Same with Maxi. So it's more around just having chats to them about, you know, the tactics of how we're playing as a team, maybe individuals, and then also them getting the best out of the rest of the guys and the group. And they've all been magnificent to deal with. I know the environment we've got there so far this year. I mean, I know your CSK boys are sitting pretty at second. Delia are actually top. But they've played an extra game. Once we play our next game, hopefully we will go equal top. So, you know, we've had a good start

and the vibe amongst the group's good and there's a good mixture between those guys but we've also tried to really put time and effort into our young Indian boys because we know that's where hopefully we'll get our big, you know, boost in the team from their performances. Imagine being so good you don't need to be coached.

One day. Yeah, one day. I'll have gone. Yeah, we'll be finished playing by then. Right, a bit about your cricket. Who was your favourite teammate in the Australian side that you played with? Well, I'd have to say Brett Lee was always I was very close to him because we went to the academy together

So he was I think 20 that year And I was turning 21 So, you know, living in Adelaide for six months And training with 14 other guys It was a lot of fun And we became really good mates And then played a lot of cricket for Australia together Whether it was Tess or ODIs and stuff like that

And even now we still catch up with the kids And yeah, when we're around at the same time, same place We try and catch up And we've always been really good mates Cricket's special like that, isn't it? You make best friends when you play cricket. You have so much in common. Like, I've latched on to crossy like a leech since we're 13.

Yeah. I mean, this might not be a question now that we know that you can't smell, but who did you hate sitting next to the most in the dressing room? Well, for W.A. it was definitely Joe Angel because, yeah, big Joey always had, well, from what I can gather, the boys said that, yeah. Bad kit. Yeah, yeah. So Joey was one.

But then from a, I guess from an Australian perspective, probably any of the quicks, because they were just pests. Really? So whether it was McGraar or whether, you know, Gillespie, those guys were just constantly pestering. But saying that, I actually spent a fair bit of time with the quicks. I don't know why, but. So that they'd bowl nice to you in the net.

Probably, yeah. I know that my friendship with Brett certainly helped me in the nets because he always used to look after me. And obviously when he's bowling 160 clicks, you didn't need that. Oh, no, thanks. a match but um yeah i'd say any of the quicks like those guys finny reckon the keepers are the worst because they got so much kit true everywhere and it stink yeah bad's bowl you wouldn't know you wouldn't know tactical that i reckon if i was a smelly keeper i'd need to sit next to cat

but i'm not going to know cataraths yeah what is your favorite cricket memory or your best cricket memory look i'd have to say so individually i'd have to say it was at headingly in 2001 because I had the privilege of having Richie Benno present me my bag of green cap. And he said, there are many more important things in life than a bag of green cap between an Australian cricketer

is the ultimate achievement every time you wear it with pride and enjoy yourself. And I think to have an icon of the game, you know, on such a big day when you're having all these flashbacks of the journey you've been on to get there to have him present the cap and say those words. I was like, wow, this is unbelievable.

It just capped it off. So I know that was really special. And was that word for word what he said? Do you remember that specifically? I haven't forgotten it because Richie, when he speaks, you listen. You listen, yeah. And I think, because he obviously was so respected in Australia with, you know, being a former Australian captain and the record he had as a player,

but then also his broadcasting career as well. I mean, he's the voice of cricket in Australia. So, you know, he was just a magnificent man. And I think having that bond, you know, I'd see him around the traps after, you know, that happened. And he'd always stop and want to have a chat and see him. how my career was going. So I think, you know, Steve Ward deserves a lot of credit for that because that's the whole reason he brought that tradition into Australian cricket. He'd only brought

it in, I think, in early, might have made 1990. And I think Adam Gilchrist was the first one to have his cap presented officially by a past player. And he wanted to build that bridge between, you know, the past of Australian cricket with the future. Yeah. And I think that, you know, tradition now is obviously really important. And a lot of teams do it around the world. Yeah. So individually, that was it from a team perspective definitely winning in india test series in 2004 we hadn't won there for about 38 years and no Australian team's done it since so to do that and to play a reasonable role in that i got a chance to bat at three because rickie ponting was injured and it was you know fantastic because i was still quite young in my test career at that point in sort of 2004 and yeah

to play a role in that and win there was definitely the the pinnacle from a from our perspective because we we'd never won there for such a long time decent well to put a dampener on it what's been your worst cricket in memory look it was it's probably one of the best and also the worst but definitely the oh five ashes because personally it didn't go that well and then obviously we lost it but you know from a cricket perspective and what it did for the game here in the UK it was unbelievable yeah and I think I look back now and there's there's certainly regrets because we had our chances to win that series and we didn't grab them and I know from my perspective I'd had a mixed bag personally I had a couple of good tests where I'd get starts

but I never cashed in on those starts of 40s or 50s or 60s and then in the end it became a tour where I got dropped after that and rightly so. So, yeah, at the end of that series I thought, geez, this could be the end of my career, a test career. And it was that sort of moment where you go, geez, when it drops, you think, you know,

it's quite a sad moment. But then thankfully I managed to force my way back in in 2008, but that was definitely the moment where it was like, wow. I feel like my generation of cricketer, that 2005, Ashes was the one that I was I queued up in the streets to get in because kids came in free that day I think it was under 16s came in free on day five didn't they and I snuck in I found a little gate that was open and came and snuck in and got in but yeah that was like one of the reasons that I wanted to play cricket because of Andrew Flint off like he was my role model growing up so it was

incredible and that just goes to show how important you know the cricket is for for crowds to come in and I remember that crowd that day it was just jam packed and the atmosphere was electric and as you say you know the players are role models and they're a big reason why people come to the cricket. You know, that last day, Ricky Ponting's innings that day is probably the best test innings I've seen live. And I saw some amazing innings with that team. I played in for Australia, but his innings there was probably the best one. I saw him play live.

He'd got hit as well, hadn't he? He'd got hit in the face and had to have stitches in his cheek. That was in the first test at Lords. Was it Harmeson? Harmison got him there, split him. And then, yeah, the test here, it was reversing. it was the ball was going through he's quite a quick wicket and the boys like flint off and jones and those boys bong quick so it was phenomenal not just thinking about it we've had stephen on the

podcast was his catch to get you out as good as he says it was certainly was really certainly was because i remember i got to about 50 and i started to think having played at the gabber a lot and it was a happy hunting ground i thought i got to 50 here this there's a there's a hundred for the making i feel really good good wicket and he came on just after i think i'd just been after a break and i'd hit him down the ground and then i've gone again and next thing you know and i didn't go that high off the ground he's just because he's so tall what is he six eight or something like yeah six foot eight yeah he's just managed to get down and pluck this thing one-handed i'm like no way and then i've watched all their boys afterwards peel off big hundreds and i'm thinking

it could have been me he should have been me i know yeah he put a lot of mayo on it for us he told as it was the best thing that he's ever done. Finn comes in now and bowls up yorker-length ball. He has got a golden bowled. What a fine catch for a tall man. It was that flicky drive that Kattich plays. It was a ball of almost yorker length, and it went very low.

That was his best moment, actually, wasn't he? He got the picture out. We tried to find the footage on YouTube and it's nowhere to be seen. Cannot find it anywhere. It's probably a good thing. The thing is, I don't know Finney that well because I only played one more test in that series

before I got injured and that was it. And, I mean, he went on and did really well for England and I'd heard really good reports about him and when we signed him for the originals, everyone had said he displays a lot of leadership. He's still quite young really in his career. He's only, I think, 31 or 32, I think. So he's still got plenty of time left from that perspective

but we wanted to have that experience around the group and from what we've seen so far, But his influence on this group, particularly the younger guys, from a bowling perspective, has been outstanding. And it's been great having him here with us. Yeah, he's a good egg. He's one of our favorites. He's actually been on this podcast twice, which not many people have been.

Right, that's as serious as we're going to be now. So we do a no-ball's quiz with every guest that we have, and this is just about you. You can't win anything other than pride. There is a disclaimer. The stats may or may not be correct. Yeah, so these are our stats. Yeah. So bear with us.

And you've got a really good memory because I've been listening and I'm thinking you're probably going to get all these right. Yeah, I think you might be our best contestant so far. Finney's still doing maths, actually. I'm calculating how many overs he's bowled in first class cricket. But, okay, question number one, Kat. Is your test batting average higher or lower than your test match strike rate? Lower.

Do you know what they are? I think my test average was about 45. Yep. Correct. 0.03. Okay. And my strike rate, I think, was about 50. Yeah. Yes. 49.36. 46. That's impressive. Very good. Tick, tick, tick. Well, done. Question number two, how many test match sixes have you hit?

It wouldn't have been many. I reckon it wouldn't be double digits. So it's probably maybe, I do know. I remember one, because I know I hit Dale Stainfield one at Durban. And I remember that because I think. he was obviously very good but it can't have been many maybe maybe six no you're better than that nine nine yeah okay so you've turned around yeah yeah it's upside down so you've named one can you remember anyone else we don't actually know who you've hit for six so we're going off your stats here uh so yeah stain was one you must have hit ashley giles for a six i'm actually struggling to remember because i i didn't never hit many so that's what's That's why we thought you might know it because you've not hit many.

Well, you've got that one wrong. Yeah, okay. You're one from two. It's not bad. It's a good start. You've actually already answered this one, but go on, Chrossey. What date did you make your test match debut?

I know it was in August because it was roughly around my birthday in 2001. Yeah. The number's going to count, though. Oh, does it? Yeah. We need the number.

Well, I remember sell it because some mates of mine came over from Perth to come and see it and we celebrated my birthday during the test so August 21's my birthday I'm guessing it started around about the 20th 16th 16th of August 2021 close but wrong how many of your debut squad can you name team team in that team it was Hayden and Slater correct then it was was Ponting at three. Correct.

Mark wore at four. Correct. And then Steve War got injured, hence the reason I came in. So Martin was at five. Correct. I was at six. Correct. Gilly was at seven.

This is incredible, by the way. Warnie probably batted at eight. Correct. And then I reckon Brett Lee probably batted at night. Correct. Oh my God. And then I reckon Dizzy probably was at 10. And then Pigeon was at 11.

Correct. Wow. Well, well done. That is so good. That is so impressive. How many years ago was that? 20 years ago. 20 years ago, yeah. That is so good. You can't forget your debut. No, you can. No, you can.

And the last question, I'm sure you're going to know this, but what is your best test match bowling figures? Six for 65 at the SCG versus Zimbabwe. Correct. I've actually got a bonus question here. How many maidens have you bowled in test match? Oh, God. Probably none. If you saw what I bowled, it would have been impossible for me to bowl a maiden. We'll give you a clue. It's the same number as test wickets you've taken. Uh, 21. Correct. Yes. Wow. That is definitely the best. And the only reason I know that is because

the boys asked me the other day in the nets. And I'm thinking, geez, I think it was 21. And then someone said, yeah, it was. That is so good. You are easily the leader of the no balls quiz with all that knowledge. No one, yeah, no one has done as well. I mean, you got 11 points. I can't believe I didn't get six is right. I should know these things. Yeah. You'll never. forget now though yeah no one well thank you so much for coming on no balls cricket podcast kattich it's been so much fun my pleasure thanks for having me how interesting is that guy it wasn't very no balls but it was really interesting to listen to i just wanted him to keep talking and i just wanted to keep listening to what he was saying because he's obviously got so much

knowledge of the game and had so many experiences and he's so well respected you get that i got that sense from our men's team just talking to them like in and around training and stuff um but yeah it was genuinely it's a bit different but i thought it was genuinely really interesting guest he's a stayer he's a stayer is a stayer did we tell that story yeah i think we did i think we told the girls are steyers should we just tell it just in case and henry can take it out if not so anyone if we didn't tell that story the first night we had team drinks didn't we and the boys all went to bed because they were boring they were training the next day training the morning. Training in the morning. We were training in the afternoon. We all had a few drinks. The girls

were left in the bar and Kattich came up and said, the girls are stayers. So we've been known as the stayers. That's why it's hashtag stayers on Instagram Twitter. Stayers, what a great, great name. Guys, we think we're going to have a little holiday. We are going to have a break, aren't we? We are, because the hundreds over. Nine weeks, did you just say? This is our ninth episode with the Beebe, the British Broadcasting comedy. Oh my God, we've done nine episodes with the Woodward Warcating Company. So, guys, thank you so much. You've all been amazing.

We've absolutely loved this series. I don't know if we're calling it a series, but we are now. It's a series. We'll be back. We'll be back better, stronger, fitter than ever. Guys, email us on. No balls podcast at BBC.co.com. Noblespodcast at BBC.co.com.

It's so good. They've said it twice. Good night. Goodbye. I'm going to bed. and cross strikes in the first over it's what England we're looking for partly balls down the track comes scoring this time she connects

it's either six or out it's six how you're six how can you know how can you get the most how can you get the most out of life that's a big question right I'm Eve

a rapper TV presenter to businesswoman and also a dreamer. Join me and guests as we go deep, asking some of life's biggest questions from how to live authentic and happy to dealing with life's big challenges. Look, we may not get the answers, but through conversation,

we can learn something together. Constantly evolving, the podcast. With me, Eve, listen on BBC Sounds. podcasts.