Langer warns 'in form' Katich against holding out hope for 'dream' Ashes recall

Former Australian cricketer Justin Langer has said that he does not believe that his former teammate Simon Katich will receive a dream Test recall to save Australia from Ashes doom even if he is in a stellar form in county cricket.

According to Telegraph.com.au, Katich was one of Australia's most consistent performers before his shock Test dumping in December 2010, which he believes is due to his dressing room bust-up with Michael Clarke in 2009.

However, calls are growing for Katich to be reinstated with Australia facing the real prospect of a 5-0 Ashes whitewash due to their frail batting line-up, as he has posted scores of 115, 40no, 200 and 62no while playing for Lancashire in the past three weeks.

But Katich's friend and former Test opener Langer said that the 56-Test veteran should not hold out hope of earning an Ashes recall even though he expressed his admiration for Katich, saying that he does not think Cricket Australia will call Katich for the Ashes.

However, Langer, who was Australia's batting coach before taking over at the Warriors last year, has invited Katich to play for the Warriors next year given his astonishing run of form in county cricket, although he rued that it would be a difficult task given Katich's age and family concerns.

Langer also expressed disappointment at the fact that even though Katich could have probably played 80 or 90 Tests till now, it did not work out for him, adding that he is one of the players that Langer would like to play alongside any day of the week.

Langer has signed Katich for the upcoming Twenty20 Big Bash League tournament, the report added.