Katich looks to build Watson partnership

One of the toughest things for Simon Katich since his Test return last year is his struggle to find a regular partner. Not being a specialist opener makes the job difficult enough without the face at the other end changing. And having put a lot of time into developing four intense relationships, there is no guarantee the groundwork he has done with Shane Watson will keep them together for a summer of run loving.

"When you're opening, you sort of form a team within a team," Katich said as he prepared for Thursday's first Test against West Indies. "I guess that's been one of the hardest things for me since I came back into the Test team 18 months ago, the changes in openers through injury or retirement or other reasons.

"I started out with Phil Jaques, then it was Haydos, Phil Hughes and now Watto. It was obviously a tough call on Hughsey after Lord's but I've enjoyed batting with Watto as well. I have no idea what the selectors and Ricky have planned for him in the long-term, but he obviously did well in the Ashes. He's a very talented cricketer."

Watson's best spot is in the middle order but because he has been chosen as an opener everyone in the Australian set-up has to say how well-suited he is at the top of the order. Neither Katich nor Watson do the job for New South Wales, where Hughes and Jaques go in first, but that hasn't stopped them talking about developing a strong liaison against West Indies.

"Having a left-right combination can sometimes help depending on the bowlers that you face," Katich said after training at the Gabba. "In England we enjoyed opening together and had reasonable starts. We would obviously like to build on that."

Katich always lets his partner take the strike, a trait begun by Adam Gilchrist's preference to face in one-day games, so it will be Watson who has to absorb the opening efforts of either Jerome Taylor or Kemar Roach this week. The pitch is currently very green, but there are still two days to go before the match and the weather is expected to continue being warm and humid.

Openers know the opening session of the Gabba will be the toughest of the summer and Watson and Katich plan a rendezvous before the game to discuss how they will counter the conditions and the West Indies attack. It's been three months since their previous batting date, but even if both of them continue to be successful it's unlikely the partnership will last in the long term.