Regrouping not relaxing: Gilchrist
Regrouping not relaxing: Gilchrist
By Andrew Ramsey
29apr06
ADAM Gilchrist led Australia's foot-sore cricketers in Dhaka last night as they completed their final trek into a well-deserved break after a playing schedule that traversed four continents in the past 10 months.
But the stand-in captain believes his team has not - as popular belief would have it - scaled a peak; nor does it face a slow and undulating descent over the coming five months of match-free rest.
With a much-awaited Ashes series and the opportunity to secure an unprecedented third consecutive World Cup lying ahead, Gilchrist believes the Australians will spend until September merely regrouping rather than relaxing.
As the most overworked member of the squad over the 10-month campaign that began in England last June, Gilchrist could be excused for climbing into a hammock while clutching a straw hat and a cold drink.
But the 34 year old, who harbours no plans for an imminent retirement from the international scene despite his travel fatigue, claims the toughest leg of the journey lies ahead.
"We have known about this break for a long time," Gilchrist said in an interview with The Weekend Australian prior to the team's departure from Dhaka today.
"And whilst there has been a lot of cricket on and there's been a pretty demanding schedule, it's felt like we've been climbing a mountain and this coming break is not the summit but a base camp along the route.
"This is a chance for us to stop, re-gather our spirits and our energy and replenish ourselves, and then launch a big, strong assault at the summit.
"Next summer will be a peak in a lot of the guys' careers because of what is up for grabs: the Ashes and the World Cup."
There has been much speculation that the 2007 World Cup that begins in the Caribbean next February will mark the departure for several senior Australia players, including Gilchrist.
The game's most successful wicketkeeper-batsman does not share that view, although he concedes his time in the Test and limited-overs international arenas is forever shortening as his thoughts turn increasingly to family and life beyond cricket.
Gilchrist is of the view that the final stanza of an epic playing stint is not a suitable time to be making long-term decisions about his playing future.
But he also believes that a number of established stars throughout the game will fade from view shortly after the trophy has been presented to the World Cup champion at Kensington Oval in Barbados next March.
"I do think across the cricket world that the 2007 World Cup will be a significant milestone that a number of ageing cricketers will get to and then consider their future," he said.
"It's not just the Australian team. Looking around the world and having spoken to a few players from opposition teams there will definitely be a lot of consideration going on leading into the World Cup and beyond."
Despite recent assertions from many quarters - including International Cricket Council boss Malcolm Speed - that players should give thanks for their lot and stop bemoaning the relentless scheduling, the fact remains that workload pressure will reduce many players' tenure in the game.
As Speed pointed out, the players are better remunerated now than at any time in the past, and none has reported being forced against his will into accepting a career as an international cricketer.
But it is unfair to compare the working life of a cricketer with other professional sports.
To begin with, no other team sport expects players to spend as much as four months on the road away from home and family.
Football tournaments rarely stretch beyond a month, and only occasionally would a rugby tour drag on longer than 10 weeks.
A player such as Gilchrist, who plays Test and one-day cricket, has spent barely a couple of weeks at his home since last October.
Professional golfers and tennis players travel year round but, as individual sportspeople, benefit from far greater flexibility in travel arrangements, and there are not too many major events scheduled in trying destinations such as Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.
And while a five-month break from work sounds indulgent, the notion that players won't do anything other than relax until October, when they head to India, is as spurious as suggestions that they spend non-playing days on tour lounging by a hotel pool.
"It's not like five months off is just five months of sitting around or lazing on the beach," Gilchrist said.
"Within that time there are various development programs, training camps, there is the fitness aspect to ensure we maintain those levels and I'm sure that every individual has got something he will want to improve on or enhance and develop.
"That will all come into play after we have had an initial rest.
"I haven't got the diary out and revisited those times, but this is your old-fashioned genuine off-season so it's pretty exciting in that respect."
Regrouping not relaxing: Gilchrist
By Andrew Ramsey
29apr06
ADAM Gilchrist led Australia's foot-sore cricketers in Dhaka last night as they completed their final trek into a well-deserved break after a playing schedule that traversed four continents in the past 10 months.
But the stand-in captain believes his team has not - as popular belief would have it - scaled a peak; nor does it face a slow and undulating descent over the coming five months of match-free rest.
With a much-awaited Ashes series and the opportunity to secure an unprecedented third consecutive World Cup lying ahead, Gilchrist believes the Australians will spend until September merely regrouping rather than relaxing.
As the most overworked member of the squad over the 10-month campaign that began in England last June, Gilchrist could be excused for climbing into a hammock while clutching a straw hat and a cold drink.
But the 34 year old, who harbours no plans for an imminent retirement from the international scene despite his travel fatigue, claims the toughest leg of the journey lies ahead.
"We have known about this break for a long time," Gilchrist said in an interview with The Weekend Australian prior to the team's departure from Dhaka today.
"And whilst there has been a lot of cricket on and there's been a pretty demanding schedule, it's felt like we've been climbing a mountain and this coming break is not the summit but a base camp along the route.
"This is a chance for us to stop, re-gather our spirits and our energy and replenish ourselves, and then launch a big, strong assault at the summit.
"Next summer will be a peak in a lot of the guys' careers because of what is up for grabs: the Ashes and the World Cup."
There has been much speculation that the 2007 World Cup that begins in the Caribbean next February will mark the departure for several senior Australia players, including Gilchrist.
The game's most successful wicketkeeper-batsman does not share that view, although he concedes his time in the Test and limited-overs international arenas is forever shortening as his thoughts turn increasingly to family and life beyond cricket.
Gilchrist is of the view that the final stanza of an epic playing stint is not a suitable time to be making long-term decisions about his playing future.
But he also believes that a number of established stars throughout the game will fade from view shortly after the trophy has been presented to the World Cup champion at Kensington Oval in Barbados next March.
"I do think across the cricket world that the 2007 World Cup will be a significant milestone that a number of ageing cricketers will get to and then consider their future," he said.
"It's not just the Australian team. Looking around the world and having spoken to a few players from opposition teams there will definitely be a lot of consideration going on leading into the World Cup and beyond."
Despite recent assertions from many quarters - including International Cricket Council boss Malcolm Speed - that players should give thanks for their lot and stop bemoaning the relentless scheduling, the fact remains that workload pressure will reduce many players' tenure in the game.
As Speed pointed out, the players are better remunerated now than at any time in the past, and none has reported being forced against his will into accepting a career as an international cricketer.
But it is unfair to compare the working life of a cricketer with other professional sports.
To begin with, no other team sport expects players to spend as much as four months on the road away from home and family.
Football tournaments rarely stretch beyond a month, and only occasionally would a rugby tour drag on longer than 10 weeks.
A player such as Gilchrist, who plays Test and one-day cricket, has spent barely a couple of weeks at his home since last October.
Professional golfers and tennis players travel year round but, as individual sportspeople, benefit from far greater flexibility in travel arrangements, and there are not too many major events scheduled in trying destinations such as Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.
And while a five-month break from work sounds indulgent, the notion that players won't do anything other than relax until October, when they head to India, is as spurious as suggestions that they spend non-playing days on tour lounging by a hotel pool.
"It's not like five months off is just five months of sitting around or lazing on the beach," Gilchrist said.
"Within that time there are various development programs, training camps, there is the fitness aspect to ensure we maintain those levels and I'm sure that every individual has got something he will want to improve on or enhance and develop.
"That will all come into play after we have had an initial rest.
"I haven't got the diary out and revisited those times, but this is your old-fashioned genuine off-season so it's pretty exciting in that respect."