Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Jason Neil Gillespie
Born April 19, 1975, Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales
Current age 33 years 28 days
Major teams Australia, Ahmedabad Rockets, Glamorgan, South Australia, Yorkshire
Nickname Dizzy
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast
Height 1.95 m
Education Cabra College, Adelaide

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	71	93	28	1218	201*	18.73	3810	31.96	1	2	146	8	27
ODIs	97	39	16	289	44*	12.56	368	78.53	0	0	16	6	10
T20Is	1	1	0	24	24	24.00	18	133.33	0	0	4	0	0
First-class	178	238	61	3444	201*	19.45			3	9			64
List A	181	79	36	592	44*	13.76	838	70.64	0	0			26
Twenty20	21	7	4	55	24	18.33	43	127.90	0	0	4	2	5

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	71	137	14234	6770	259	7/37	9/80	26.13	2.85	54.9	8	8	0
ODIs	97	96	5144	3611	142	5/22	5/22	25.42	4.21	36.2	3	3	0
T20Is	1	1	24	49	1	1/49	1/49	49.00	12.25	24.0	0	0	0
First-class	178		33687	15771	596	8/50		26.46	2.80	56.5		22	2
List A	181		9544	6639	238	5/22	5/22	27.89	4.17	40.1	6	3	0
Twenty20	21	20	403	532	19	2/19	2/19	28.00	7.92	21.2	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	Australia v West Indies at Sydney, Nov 29-Dec 3, 1996 scorecard
Last Test	Bangladesh v Australia at Chittagong (CDS), Apr 16-20, 2006 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	Sri Lanka v Australia at Colombo (RPS), Aug 30, 1996 scorecard
Last ODI	England v Australia at The Oval, Jul 12, 2005 scorecard
ODI statistics
Only T20I	England v Australia at Southampton, Jun 13, 2005 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1994/95
Last First-class	Gloucestershire v Glamorgan at Bristol, Apr 29-May 2, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1994/95
Last List A	Glamorgan v Gloucestershire at Cardiff, May 9, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	England v Australia at Southampton, Jun 13, 2005 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Tasmania v South Australia at Hobart, Jan 6, 2008 scorecard

Profile

Jason Gillespie's bouncing mullet, hook nose and Spofforth-like glare were a pleasing constant in Australian pace attacks during the first half of the 2000s. It was a rare treat for Gillespie, who played only 52 of a possible 92 Tests after his 1996-97 debut thanks to an assortment of ailments: busted feet, stress fractures in the back, hip twinges, side strains, dicky shoulders, torn calves, aching hamstrings, groin complaints and a broken right leg. Each time he recovered and until being dropped during the 2005 Ashes he had missed only two Tests since November 2002. Through it all, in partnership with Glenn McGrath, he blossomed into one half of Australia's most statistically successful opening pair ever. But if McGrath's strength was his ability to make the ball do just enough, then Gillespie's flaw is his tendency for it to do too much. No other contemporary fast man has elicited so many plays-and-misses. It explains, perhaps, along with his slightly samey length, why Gillespie never quite imposed himself as Australia's No. 1 strike bowler. Nor has he truly dominated an opposition line-up; remarkably, the most wickets he has taken in a single series is 20. Operating from a shorter reconfigured run-up, he is not so consistently quick and in England Michael Vaughan treated Australia's fifth most successful bowler like a medium-pacer.

However, few Australian fast men can have owned such deep wells of tenacity. Gillespie bowls long spells in the hottest conditions - always uncomplainingly, and always with the seam upright and the ball jagging both ways - and he showed the trait again when he promised to return to the national team and memorably achieved his aim against Bangladesh. He collected eight wickets in the two-match series, taking his Test tally to 259 while McGrath, Kasprowicz and Tait were missing, but his unforgettable moment came over 574 minutes and 425 balls. His maiden century was a magnificent, unbeaten 201 that was easily the highest score by a nightwatchman.

He is popular with team-mates and bashful with the public. He watches wrestling, listens to heavy metal and celebrated his first Test fifty with a bat ride embellished from the movie Happy Gilmore. He was more restrained while clocking off unthinkable milestones at Chittagong and it was appropriate recognition for a hardy and valuable batting approach that has also produced two unbeaten half-centuries and a priceless 26, which sealed a hard-fought draw against India in 2004-05. A second first-class century came in 2007 at Yorkshire shortly before he retained his Cricket Australia contract. Throughout the previous home season he was certain he wouldn't be rewarded, but his 30 Pura Cup wickets at 28.43 helped him to sneak into the squad as experienced back-up, ending the idea of him moving states. With no chance of a recall, he announced his retirement from first-class cricket during the 2007-08 season and signed a three-year contract with the unofficial Indian Cricket League.

The great-grandson of a Kamilaroi warrior, Gillespie occupies a significant niche in Australian history as the first acknowledged Aboriginal Test cricketer.
Cricinfo staff February 2008