Cricket AM

9am, Saturday - Sky Sports 1

We may never know the secret of Mike Catt's longevity but Cricket AM may have discovered the secret to his silky rugby skills.

At the age of 35 Catt is still producing the goods at the highest level, but Simon wanted to know if his comparison to a young Jonty Rhodes in the field was fair.

"Yeah probably," joked Catt. "I wished I was like Jonty, but I am afraid I'm not.

"I really enjoy fielding though as a cricketer. I was not very good at batting and was always a nine, ten or 11.

"I always fielded in the covers and my forte was the run-out. I thoroughly enjoyed it."

Unfortunately due to his rugby commitments Catt does not get to play as much as he would have liked.

"Cricket is a dangerous sport and contractually we are not allowed to play another dangerous sport.  But we do quite a lot of stuff for charities and get to play a bit which is great fun."

Brought up in South Africa Catt was spoilt for choice in the sporting department but it was rugby that he decided to pursue.

"In South Africa in was compulsory to do two sports. In summer I did cricket and Athletics and in winter I did rugby and cross-country," explained Catt.

"Cricket was big at our school and we were quite good at it, the likes of Graeme Pollock went to my school.

I was never tempted to follow in his footsteps because I was never good enough.

"To be honest I don't mind an 18-stone bloke running at me, but that little round ball coming at me at that pace is not nice.

"I am petrified of it. When I was playing for our U13 team this bloke was hit in the face and his nose was everywhere. Since then whenever that ball is coming towards me, I am backing off."

Catt has worked hard to remain at the top of his game for so long and gave a brief insight into his longevity on the rugby field.

"I think it is my distribution skills," said Catt tongue in cheek.

"I pass the rugby ball, I don't like contact and I don't particularly want contact because I am smaller than most of the guys.

"One of my fortes is my distribution and I tend to get rid of the ball before anyone can even hit me."

With the 2007 World Cup looming on the horizon the question had to be asked whether England can successfully defend their World Cup trophy.

"The past six months to a year has been very disruptive and we have not really had any continuity," said Catt.

"Especially going into the South African tour. We have been thrashed in the two games which has not built any confidence and as a group of players we have not really had any time together which is vital.

"We have a few months and we have a lot of good players, if we can get to the quarter finals, anything can happen."