Australian captain Michael Clarke has hit back at suggestions that he played a role in Simon Katich being dropped from the national team.

Katich was dropped from Cricket Australia's central contracts in June despite being one of the most consistent batsman in Test cricket during the previous year.

He recently suggested that Clarke had played a key role in his omission but Clarke has moved to downplay his part in the selection process.

"Look, when Simon wasn't selected I wasn't a selector at the time," said Clarke.

"Since becoming a selector I've made it clear in plenty of press conferences that I've done that the door's certainly not closed on anyone.

"But in saying that I don't think his comments are certainly helping him get back into this team at the moment. The team morale is such an important part of having success and it's been a great thing for the Australian team in both forms of the game of late."

Katich has played 56 Test matches for Australia, scoring 4,188 runs at an average of 45.03.

Australia are currently touring South Africa, where they sealed a 2-1 win in the one-day international series on Friday.