Jason Gillespie

Jason Gillespie

Personal information
Full name	Jason Neil Gillespie
Born	(1975-04-19) 19 April 1975 (age 43) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nickname	Dizzy
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Australia (1996–2006)
Test debut (cap 370)	29 November 1996 v West Indies
Last Test	16 April 2006 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 127)	30 August 1996 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	12 July 2005 v England
ODI shirt no.	4
Only T20I (cap 12)	13 June 2005 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1994–2008	South Australia
2006–2007	Yorkshire
2008	Glamorgan
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I LA Matches 71 97 1 192 Runs scored 1,218 201 24 640 Batting average 18.73 12.56 24.00 14.22 100s/50s 1/2 0/0 0/0 0/0 Top score 201* 44* 24 44* Balls bowled 14,234 5,144 24 10,048 Wickets 259 142 1 255 Bowling average 26.13 25.42 49.00 27.40 5 wickets in innings 8 3 0 3 10 wickets in match 0 n/a 0 n/a Best bowling 7/37 5/22 1/49 5/22 Catches/stumpings 27/– 10/– 0/0 31/–
Source: cricinfo.com, 19 November 2016

Jason Neil Gillespie (born 19 April 1975) is a former Australian cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Primarily a right-arm fast bowler, but he was also a competent lower-order batsman with a Test double century, an unbeaten 201, the highest score by a night-watchman in international cricket. Gillespie made his Test debut against the West Indies at Sydney in 1996 and his One Day International debut against Sri Lanka at Colombo in the Singer World Series in 1996.

He played for South Australia, Yorkshire and Glamorgan at first-class level. He was an AIS Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder in 1995.^[1]

On 29 February 2008, Gillespie announced his retirement from first-class cricket in Australia and then played for a period in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League for the Ahmedabad Rockets.^[2] At the end of the 2008 English domestic season he retired from all first-class cricket.^[3]

Personal life[edit]

Jason Gillespie is a descendant on his father's side of the Kamilaroi people of Indigenous Australians, and is the first acknowledged Aboriginal person to become a Test cricketer.^[4] His mother has Greek heritage and Jason is the eldest of the five children.^[5] He attended Cabra Dominican College in Adelaide, South Australia. Gillespie married Anna (née McEvoy) in 2003. The couple have four children: Jackson (born February 2006), Brandon (born October 2007), Kingston (birthdate unknown)^[6] and daughter Delaney, born November 2012 in Yorkshire.^[7] Gillespie also has another daughter, Sapphire (born March 1995) from a previous relationship.^[8]

Gillespie is a vegan, and has criticised dairy farming and the use of leather balls. While coaching Yorkshire, Gillespie said of the club being sponsored by a dairy: "Yes, they are a sponsor but it doesn't mean I agree with what they do. It's out of my control, just like the fact that cricket balls are made of leather".^[9][10]

Domestic career[edit]

Gillespie made his first Australian domestic century in a Pura Cup match in the 2007/08 season against Tasmania. He put on a 250-run partnership with the South Australian wicketkeeper Graham Manou, who made 190. Gillespie remained 118 not out when the innings came to a close.

Gillespie made his first domestic first-class century exactly a year later on his 32nd birthday in a County Championship match versus Surrey at The Oval whilst playing for Yorkshire. He hit an unbeaten 123 and in doing so, alongside Tim Bresnan, set a record ninth-wicket partnership for Yorkshire. The pair put on 246 before Bresnan was stumped off the bowling of Nayan Doshi. Gillespie's 123 not out was also the highest score for Yorkshire by a number 10 batsman.

International career[edit]

Bowling[edit]

Gillespie took 259 wickets in 71 Tests (at an average of 26.13) making him Australia's sixth-highest wicket-taker and giving him the 14th best bowling average for Australian bowlers who have taken more than a hundred wickets.^[11]

In terms of pace, he bowled in the mid-140s–150 km/h mark in his early career up to about 2001. When he made his comeback in the 2000/01 season, he bowled more consistently, but at a speed of about mid-130s–low 140s in terms of kilometres per hour. Consistent injuries forced Gillespie to operate from a shorter run-up and therefore reduce his pace.^{[citation needed]}

Gillespie seldom dominated a Test series (the most wickets he took in a series is 20), but he was a reliable support bowler over several years for his more famous teammates Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. However, Gillespie's career suffered an unexpectedly sharp decline. In early 2005, there were some signs that he was struggling, with somewhat poor displays against New Zealand, but he was still considered Australia's leading fast-bowling partner for McGrath. This poor form continued into the 2005 Ashes series where he struggled badly, taking just three wickets at a cost of 300 runs and, as a result, was dropped after the third Test.^{[citation needed]}

After the Ashes series Gillespie took 40 wickets for South Australia during the 2005/06 Pura Cup Season. He was the fourth-highest wicket taker in the competition, with an average (21.27) far below the other leading wicket takers. His best figures came against Victoria where he took 7–35. These performances saw him make a return to the Australian Test side against Bangladesh after injury problems to the first choice attack. Gillespie was named man of the series after taking 8 wickets and making a double century in the two Tests but was never selected to play for Australia again.

Batting[edit]

Gillespie occasionally proved his worth with the bat, with a highest Test score of 201 not out and an average of 18.73. He is the only player in Test cricket with a career batting average of less than 20 to reach 200 runs in an innings. He demonstrated a solid defensive game,^{[according to whom?]} known amongst teammates as 'The Walking Forward Defence', and despite not regularly making big scores, he was a difficult batsman to dismiss and occupied the crease for substantial periods of time, allowing his batting partner time to get a big score. Also, given his low back lift, he could defend or deflect shots from spin bowlers more readily.

He has a one-day international high score of 44 not out and he averages 12.56 in one-day internationals with a strike rate of 78.53.

In the second Test match against Bangladesh at Chittagong on 19 April 2006, Gillespie (201 not out) set the world record (on his 31st birthday) for the highest individual score by a night watchman. This was Gillespie's maiden first-class century. Gillespie also shared a 4th wicket partnership of 320 runs with Michael Hussey. Gillespie was awarded man-of-the-match honours for his double-century in the first innings, and he was also named man of the series for his efforts that included eight wickets, at an average of 11.25, across the two Tests. It was his final match in international cricket. Gillespie is the only night watchman to score a double century in an innings of a Test.^[12]

Injuries[edit]

Jason Gillespie preparing to bowl for South Australia against Western Australia in January 2007

Throughout his career, Gillespie had bad luck with injuries, suffering from foot injuries, stress fractures in the back, hip twinges, side-strains, shoulders, torn calves, aching hamstrings, groin complaints and a broken right leg. He played only 52 from a possible 92 Tests following his debut to his axing during the 2005 Ashes series. Despite these problems, he was both accurate and economical.

In Australia's 1999 tour of Sri Lanka, he was involved in a sickening outfield collision when both he and Steve Waugh were running to take a catch. Waugh was running from the infield towards the outfield, while Gillespie was running in. Waugh dived for the ball resulting in his nose and Gillespie's right leg being broken. The catch was not taken.

Coaching career[edit]

Gillespie became a coach in Zimbabwe in August 2010. He worked primarily with the MidWest Rhinos, but he is also working on "grass roots" activities to improve the performance of young players in Zimbabwe.^[13]

Gillespie was drafted in as the bowling coach of Indian Premier League team Kings XI Punjab after their opening match against Pune Warriors in April 2011.^[14]

In November 2011, he was named first-team coach of Yorkshire after a shake up in the club's coaching system.^[15] In his first season with Yorkshire, they were promoted from division two of the county championship; in the second, they were runners-up in the first division; and they won the title in 2014 and 2015, when he was one of the candidates to coach England.^[16] He returned to Australia after Yorkshire narrowly missed out on a third successive title in 2016.^[17]

In April 2015 Gillespie was named as the coach of the Adelaide Strikers team in the Big Bash League.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2017, Gillespie was appointed as the interim head coach for the Papua New Guinea national team replacing former New Zealand Test player, Dipak Patel.^[18]

In 2018 Gillespie took up the position of head coach of Sussex.

Career best performances[edit]

International centuries[edit]

Test centuries[edit]

Test centuries of Jason Gillespie
No	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Start date	Result
[1]	201*	71	Bangladesh	Chittagong, Bangladesh	Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium	16 April 2006	Won

International record[edit]

Test 5 Wicket hauls[edit]

#	Figures	Match	Opponent	Venue	City	Country	Year
1	5/54	4	South Africa	St George's Park	Port Elizabeth	South Africa	1997
2	7/37	8	England	Headingley Cricket Ground	Leeds	England	1997
3	5/88	10	England	WACA Ground	Perth	Australia	1998
4	5/89	16	West Indies	Adelaide Oval	Adelaide	Australia	2000
5	6/40	17	West Indies	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne	Australia	2000
6	5/53	23	England	Lord's	London	England	2001
7	5/39	40	West Indies	Bourda	Georgetown	Guyana	2003
8	5/56	57	India	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground	Nagpur	India	2004

ODI 5 Wicket hauls[edit]

#	Figures	Match	Opponent	Venue	City	Country	Year
1	5/22	38	Pakistan	Gymkhana Club Ground	Nairobi	Kenya	2002
2	5/70	41	Pakistan	Gymkhana Club Ground	Nairobi	Kenya	2002
3	5/32	72	Zimbabwe	Harare Sports Club	Harare	Zimbabwe	2004

International awards[edit]

One Day International Cricket[edit]

Man of the Match awards[edit]

S No	Opponent	Venue	Date	Match Performance	Result
1	Sri Lanka	Galle International Stadium, Galle	22 August 1999	0 (1 balls) ; 6–1–26–3	Australia won by 50 runs (D/L).[25]
2	England	Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester	14 June 2001	DNB ; 9–5–20–3	Australia won by 125 runs (D/L).[26]
3	South Africa	New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg	22 March 2002	11* (12 balls) ; 10–0–39–3	Australia won by 19 runs.[27]
4	Bangladesh	Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo	19 September 2002	10–1–20–3 ; DNB	Australia won by 9 wickets.[28]
5	India	SuperSport Park, Centurion	15 February 2003	10–2–13–3 ; DNB	Australia won by 9 wickets.[29]
6	Sri Lanka	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	25 February 2004	10–1–36–3 ; DNB	Australia won by 5 wickets.[30]
7	Zimbabwe	Harare Sports Club, Harare	29 May 2004	10–2–32–5, 1 ct. ; DNB	Australia won by 8 wickets.[31]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Jason Gillespie at CricketArchive (subscription required)
• Jason Gillespie at ESPNcricinfo
• Jason Gillespie on Twitter