All original content on this site is © 2004 - 2006 CAITE Inc. All borrowed images and articles remain copyrighted to their owners and no claim of ownership is made.

Captain's armband rescued Gilchrist - but NZ tour rankles

Source: smh.com.au - January 31, 2006

Australia's acting captain, Adam Gilchrist, believes the added responsibilities of leadership greatly assisted him in breaking free of his extended form slump and post a matchwinning century against Sri Lanka at the WACA Ground on Sunday night.

Gilchrist showed rare emotion in celebrating his century, which came after a week-long break and a month of speculation about his mental freshness and position in the Australian batting line-up.

Though he will now hand back the captaincy to Ricky Ponting, Gilchrist is certain that his temporary tenure as skipper helped him take the focus off himself ahead of the match against the Sri Lankans.

"I'm thrilled I got the opportunity, given where I was at personally," he said. "It was great to have that week to freshen up, and to come back and know that I had to jump right in almost at the deep end, I couldn't afford to sit back and be a shadow of my personality. I had to stand up and be there in front of the guys. That was really enjoyable.

"For me, it was appropriate timing to bring the best out of me. There's no hiding the fact I was keen for a result - maybe focusing too much on a result rather than just going out there and batting. It reinforces what a fine line it is. We go out there and expose ourselves every time you walk to the wicket, and some days you walk off like today and some days you don't. You've got to try and learn how to deal with that."

Gilchrist, whose win-loss record as Australia's one-day captain now stands at an impressive 9-1, was certain his week of rest also contributed to his breathtaking performance at the WACA Ground.

And the veteran keeper-batsman conceded that his disappointment at being denied the chance to be rested from the recent one-day tour of New Zealand - which Australia' s selectors had pushed for - had harmed his performances.

"Would I have benefited from not going on that tour? Yeah," he said. "I felt it was a pretty good time to grab a breather and so did the selectors. It's their job to pick this cricket team. That opportunity for them seemed to be taken away somewhat. That added to the frustration. I probably didn't give myself much of a chance over there because I didn't deal with that very well.

"I think it maintains the best balance for our team, with me [batting] at the top. And I love doing it, I do cherish it. It continues to maintain the best balance for us and gives options elsewhere. If there's a time, and I'm sure there will be, where there might be a better option - and you can't begrudge a guy like [Phil] Jaques or Matty Hayden, who I still think is a very viable option to play international one-day cricket - you've got to encourage those guys to do well.

"If and when the time comes there's someone better and gives a better balance to our teams, if the selectors ask me to move down the order, I'll do it. But I didn't feel the time was right now and they obviously don't."

- ALEX BROWN