• Downloads  
  • Desktop Alerts
  • Toolbars
  • Wallpapers
  • Screensavers

India in Australia 2007-08

'We are desperate to get the 17th win' - Gilchrist

Nagraj Gollapudi

January 14, 2008

	Adam GIlchrist: "We won't be treating the games as dead rubbers" © Getty Images

Adam Gilchrist believes that though Australia have retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, there is still plenty to play for in the last two Tests of the series. Speaking after the end of the team's practice session at the WACA two days ahead of the third Test, Gilchrist said the players were hungry for the record 17th successive victory.

"We're desperately keen to get the 17th, we also want to win the series. We don't want a drawn one even though we've retained the trophy." Gilchrist, who was part of the team which set the original record, said he had initially thought that the mark would never be broken.

Even though Gilchrist has not been in great form with the bat so far, he has achieved some important landmarks during the series. At the MCG, he went past Ian Healy's record tally of 395 victims and followed that by breaking Rahul Dravid's mark of having played the most number of Tests (93) in a row. Gilchrist said it was nice to have played 94 straight Tests and remembered what Justin Langer, his former colleague, had to say. "Langer always said the greatest characteristic of a true champion is longevity - because they've been there long enough to show their skills in a variety of conditions. It's a big thrill, a big honour."

Eight days after the tumultuous Sydney Test, Gilchrist was of the opinion that the Perth game would have "a bit of build-up, a bit of fire in everyone's belly in the start but both teams are professional enough to know that once the ball is bowled, they'll just get back into cricket mode".

He insisted Australia had moved on from the incidents of the previous week. "We are all big boys and we can all get on with it. They [The Indian team] let off their steam after the game and we let off our steam and now let's just get on with the next game.

"Everyone is sensible enough to have understood the issues. Obviously it was discussed at yesterday's and today's meetings but not at any great length. Everyone had the opportunity if they'd something to offload or talk about but no-one really did. Ricky came in and as usual showed great leadership, spoke about his week and putting that behind and moving on now. It was put to bed very quickly." Gilchrist also played it safe when asked if the ICC was right to step in, saying that as the governing body, it had the right to coordinate with the teams.

As for the BCCI's decision to call off the tour if they felt the Harbhajan case was not settled to their interest, Gilchrist voiced his captain's opinion. "I saw Ricky comment that it would be sort of an extreme action. It would be a big move to do that, a big call to make on the basis of just what's happened. But I'm not going to tell Indian cricket what and what not to do, that's up to them."

Instead Gilchrist was disappointed at the failure of the media to highlight the performance of the Australian team on the field. "It's a bit frustrating and disappointing to see how little has been written about the quality of cricket that was on offer in the Test. It was an amazing match. Any Test that goes to the last session to the last hour and then to last over is quite a Test match."

Gilchrist also said that despite all the controversies, the focus of the team had never shifted from the cricket, and the target was now the 17th win. The team has had motivational sessions with Ray McLean, the man who inspired Geelong and Sydney Swans to the premiership titles in the Australian Football League, and Mark Taylor, the former Australian captain.

McLean, a renowned motivational guru in Australia, was present during the Australian camp held in Coolong a few months ago. "It's just about a whole host of things about the team, the direction of the team, very minimal about on-field stuff," said Gilchrist. "It was more about our unit and what our team environment is. It was really good, really positive."

Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at Cricinfo

© Cricinfo