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Gilchrist's opening role secure

Source: The Australian - January 20, 2006

With all the turmoil surrounding who will open the batting for Australia in tonight's limited-overs match, captain Ricky Ponting and the selectors are in furious agreement that the changes are only temporary.

Prolific NSW left-hander Phil Jaques will replace an injured Simon Katich for his one-day debut and Damien Martyn has been promoted to open the batting in place of a resting Adam Gilchrist against a severely depleted South Africa at Melbourne's Telstra Dome.

Katich was ruled out yesterday after straining his groin at training and is also in doubt for Sunday's match against Sri Lanka in Sydney.

In more changes, lanky West Australian swing bowler Brett Dorey will also play his first one-day international, with Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken rested. Brad Hogg is again the super-sub.

Ponting and chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns yesterday insisted that Gilchrist would continue to open the batting in the one-day side when he returned from his break for the Australia Day match in Adelaide.

"It's not an issue," Hohns claimed when asked if the worst slump of Gilchrist's career would force the selectors to rethink his place in the batting line-up.

For the second time in less than a month injury has given Jaques the opportunity to play for his country.

The hard-hitting and unorthodox opener replaced Justin Langer in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test when the West Australian strained his hamstring. Jaques scored two and 28.

Jaques, 26, deserves his latest opportunity following a stand-out season. He is by far the heaviest scorer in the domestic one-day competition this season with 520 runs at 104.

Gilchrist, 34, has scored just 24 runs at 4.8 in his past five one-day innings but Ponting was unequivocal about the game's most potent batsman, man-of-the-series during the ICC Super Series one-day tournament in October. "I just love having Gilly at the top of the order in my side," Ponting said.

"Looking back over the years he's won us so many games. Even if he only makes 30 or 40 he generally gets them pretty quickly and really gets the momentum going in our favour.

"He's really important for us at the top of the innings. I'd love to see him play the rest of his one-day career there."

Ponting claimed he decided the batting order anyway, and said there had been no discussions with the selectors at any stage about moving Gilchrist.

"They see him as a match winner at the top of the order as well," Ponting said firmly.

"Gilly's just going through one of those little troughs at the moment as a batsman that everyone goes through."

Ponting denied that Gilchrist's age was an issue and pointed to the recent performances of Damien Martyn, who is also 34.

"You never write champion players off no matter how old they are," Ponting said. "They were probably saying the same thing about Matty Hayden towards the end of the Ashes series and look where he is now (with five centuries, a 90 and an 87 not out in his last eight Tests).

"I certainly know better than saying that about guys just because they are 33 or 34. There have been a lot of very good players who have been able to play a lot longer than that in their careers and certainly played some of their best cricket at that age as well."

Among the issues addressed by the Australians yesterday was their behaviour, with Ponting reminding the players to watch themselves following the report of Gilchrist for dissent this week. Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee were reprimanded earlier this month.

"Even though they've just been chats with umpires there's just ... the perception that it's a blot on the game," Ponting said.

South Africa and Australia have both claimed a benefit from each other's non-selection; South Africa because Gilchrist is not playing and Australia because Jacques Kallis has been ruled out of the series through a recurring elbow strain.

However South Africa is in a far more serious situation, as Kallis's departure follows fast bowlers Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel. Fellow paceman Charl Langeveldt is struggling to recover from a groin strain.

- MALCOLM CONN