Ugly, but so effective. How New Zealand would dearly love an opener of the Simon Katich ilk after the Australian batted them into a winning position in the second cricket test.
Crease shuffler Katich, who always gives the bowlers an lbw chance but somehow keeps them at bay, plundered his 10th test century at Seddon Park as the tourists reached 333 for four, a lead of 300 with two days to play.
He batted a tick under six hours and faced 279 balls for his 106 before he was nicked out by Tim Southee.
For an unfashionable player by Australian standards, Katich boosted his summer test tally to 804 runs at 67 and his series total against New Zealand to 291 at 97.
"I stick to my limitations... if you watch footage of me from when I first started playing for Western Australia and footage now, it would be exactly the same," he said with a grin.
"There might be a slight difference in the amount of the movement but it's pretty much been the same throughout my whole career."
Katich was out of the test team for 2-1/2 years until his May 2008 recall; since then he's cracked eight of his 10 test centuries and averaged 55.08.
"When I got back in I was happy to get picked when I did, because I felt confident in my game. But I certainly didn't envisage to play the way I have in the last couple of years," he said.
"It's just been nice to convert my state form into the form here in test cricket and to be consistent, which is something that I think probably eventuated in me getting dropped in the first place."
Katich was confident his side now had plenty of runs and plenty of time to play with. He labelled Brent Arnel (two for 43 off 19) the pick of the New Zealand bowlers but offered some encouragement to the home batsmen as they eye a big run chase.
"The wicket held together really well and played quite well. It should keep spinning but I think the wicket will slow up a bit which helps you as a batsman because it gives you a bit more time to adjust if it does spin and bounce."
The New Zealand bowlers will clearly be pleased to see the back of him, admitted gloveman Brendon McCullum.
"He moves around the crease but his defence is incredibly sound. He gets himself in good positions and forces guys to bowl a bit straighter to him, so he scores a lot of his runs on that leg side."
