Hampshire are expected to name Australian batsman Simon Katich as their second overseas player next week.

Left-handed batsman Katich, 27, played for Durham in 2000 and last season he played one first class game for Yorkshire as a replacement for Darren Lehmann.

Katich is in the middle of his first season for NSW following six years with Western Australia and will hope that a season alongside Shane Warne at Hampshire will help him realise his international ambitions.

Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove was quoted in the Daily Echo only saying the county were aiming to sign a second Australian.

He believes the 'Aussie attitude' towards sport is a winning one which he aims to underpin an on-field revival in 2003.

Katich has not played for Australia since winning his one and only cap against England at Headingley in the fourth Test of the 2001 Ashes series.

He was unlucky not to be recalled when Mark Waugh was left out of Australia's squad for the current Ashes series but the former Australia A captain is still perceived to be the long-term replacement for Waugh.

Katich was bowled by Sussex's James Kirtley for a duck in the Prime Minister's XI's four-wicket win over England yesterday.

But he would be a valuable addition to a Hampshire middle order likely to be without an ECB contracted John Crawley for most of next season.

The Australian Cricket Academy product has a first class record that bodes well for a Hampshire side looking to bounce back into the top flight of the championship at the first attempt.

Katich has scored 5,653 runs at an average of 48.31 since breaking into the Western Australia first team seven years ago.

That record includes 15 hundreds, his top score being an unbeaten 228 against South Australia at Perth two seasons ago.

Unlike Warne, he should be available for the whole of the 2003 season and will also provide some left-arm spin as an option to Shaun Udal-s off breaks when Warne is away with Australia.

Warne is likely to miss at least the first three weeks of next season because of international commitments.

Katich's experience of captaining the Australia A side could also be beneficial, but his arrival would signal the end of Neil Johnson's two-year spell with the club.

It was understood that former Zimbabwean international Johnson was going to be asked to play a third season for Hampshire if the club were unsuccessful in landing a second Aussie.

Shaun Udal has signed a new two-year contract, tying him to Hampshire until the end of the 2004 season.

Off spinner Udal, 33, has recently had an operation to remove two screws in his ankle, the legacy of an operation he had three years ago.

Udal's benefit year concludes with a Christmas Lunch at London's Caf Royal on Tuesday, December 17, when Rory Bremner will be the guest speaker.