PERTH, May 18: Australian Test batsman Simon Katich, who skippered Western Australia most of last season in the Sheffield Shield competition, will play with New South Wales next season, the Western Australian Cricket Association said Saturday.

Katich, 26, has been touted as a possible future Australian captain and is known to be bitterly disappointed after recently losing his Australian Cricket Board (ACB) contract following a modest Shield campaign.

He apparently believes a transfer to Sydney, where he will play in the same state line-up as Australian Test captain Steve Waugh, will boost his prospects of regaining favour and returning to international ranks.

Katich, a punishing left-hander, played with Durham in 2000 and appeared for Australia in last year’s Headingley Test during the Ashes series.

During the Durham stint, he made 1,089 runs at an average of 43.56, hitting centuries against Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lancashire.

In the absence of Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer — on international duty — Katich skippered Western Australia during the 2001-2002 Shield season.

Although he had a modest summer, with 585 first-class runs at an average of just over 34, he is still seen as a likely regular member of the Australian Test line-up in the near future.

Meanwhile, NSW has announced former Test wicket-keeper Steve Rixon has been re-signed as coach for another season.—AFP/Reuters