AUSSIE all-rounder Simon Katich, Hampshire's 2003 Player of the Year, is returning to the Rose Bowl next month.

He flies back into England on August 11 and will play for the county until the end of the season.

The stylish left-hander is replacing his compatriot Michael Clarke, who is almost certain to be named in the Australian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in September and the proceeding warm-up tournament in Holland.

In doing so, he will become the FIFTH Australian to play for Hampshire this summer after Shane Warne, Clarke, Shane Watson and Michael Dighton.

Katich, who like Clarke has been named in the provisional 30-man Australian squad for the ICC but who doesn't believe he will be picked for the final 14, will make his championship return for Hampshire against Somerset at Taunton on August 18.

He will also play in championship matches at Leicestershire, Durham and Derbyshire.

Katich scored 1,143 first-class runs, including four hundreds, for Hampshire last summer and also topped the National League one-day runcharts.

He is determined to have a similar impact again. "It was a very hard decision not to come back at the start of the season but I felt I needed a rest," said the man who has resurrected his Test career after playing at The Rose Bowl.

"But I have followed Hampshire's scores and kept in contact with my teammates

"In 2003 Paul Terry helped me to work on my forward defence so I was defending and attacking the right balls.

"This helped me to play straighter and improve my footwork and timing."

Katich added: "Chris Tremlett, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Derek Kenway have all impressed me. They have the ability to become top international cricketers for England."

Katich has now played eight Tests and cracked over 544 runs at an average of just under 50, with one hundred against India in January and four fifties.

But in six one-day internationals he only averages 22.0 with the bat

Katich is hoping that a successful stint with Hampshire will make him irresistible to the one-day selectors.

"I hope that Shane Warne will give me the opportunity to bowl after the quicks have done the damage!" he quipped. "I am still developing my bowling technique - I know that to get into the Australian one-day side, I will need to take more wickets and score more runs.

"My one-day batting has improved because I learned to use my feet a lot better against the spinners when I played for Hampshire."

Katich will arrive at the Rose Bowl with very little cricket behind him since Australia toured Sri Lanka in March. He struggled in the two recent Tests against the same opponents in Darwin and Cairns and is concerned about his lack of time in the middle.

"I am the type of player who needs to be playing regularly. It was difficult to get my feet moving against Sri Lanka because I had not played for a while before," he remarked.

"But when I get to the Rose Bowl Hampshire will be playing against Glamorgan so I will take the opportunity to have a hit in the nets and acclimatise by training with my teammates.

"I want to score as many runs as I can for Hampshire and to win promotion."

Such form won him a Test recall against Zimbabwe last autumn - over two years after his Test debut at Headingley.

He scored a match-saving maiden Test ton against India at the SCG before being dropped for the first two Tests in Sri Lanka in March, Andrew Symonds preferred due to his ability to play on slow wickets.

Katich described his omission in Sri Lanka as "disappointing and frustrating" and added: "The instant you find out you have been dropped is probably the worst feeling you can imagine - particularly when you know you are playing well ... that's when it's hardest to take."