Jason Gillespie - Dizzy: The Jason Gillespie Story

To my beautiful wife, Anna. Without your love and support, we wouldnt be where we are today.

FOR MY WIFE, PAULINE, AND ME, JASON IS LIKE A SON, HAVING lived with us for a time during the early stages of his cricket career in 1995. As coach of South Australia from 199394 to 199596, one of my first encounters with Jason was in late 1993 when he was first picked for the South Australian Second Eleven.

He had been plucked from a handful of games in Grade cricket and the initial thought of many in the training squad was, Jason who? At first he didnt catch the eye of too many people. Thankfully it didnt take long before he backed up the early faith put in him and made the most of his opportunities, cracking it into the Australian squad for the World Cup in early 1996 and making his Test debut against the West Indies later that year.

In his early games, South Australian Cricket Medico Clive Matthews and I often called him The Road Runner. He would bound in off a long run, with steely eye, gnashing teeth and long hair trailing at the back of his head; it was an inspiring sight.

In those fledgling days of his First Class career, Jason trained in the gym with left-arm quick Mark Harrity, working ever so purposefully increasing his strength, never missing a session or taking any shortcuts. Jason and Mark were an inspiration and their training culture was an example to their South Australian teammates. A stint at the Cricket Academy under the watchful eye of Richard Done saw further improvement and as time wore on, Jason grew stronger and matured, developing the extra pace needed to be a success as a strike bowler at First Class level.

As you will read in the pages that follow, it hasnt always come easily for Jason. He has had his share of bad luck, but I think he has proved that he is a true professional, having never shirked an issue, and always been thoroughly dedicated to Australia, South Australia and his Grade club Adelaide, which he loves dearly. In the early days, he was shy in the media, but like the other obstacles he has faced, he overcame that and is now an accomplished performer in front of the microphones and cameras.

One of the special memories I have of Jasons career came when I moved to Port Elizabeth to coach Eastern Province in South Africa. The Australians were there having won the first Test of the vital three-match 1997 series. South Africa headed into the third day of that second Test in an almost unbeatable position, 184 runs ahead with 10 second innings wickets in hand. On that third morning, an inspired spell from Jason broke open the home sides top order, the remaining wickets falling for just a further 85 runs. In a tight finish, Australia got home by two wickets with Jason, playing just his fourth Test, at the crease at the end. He had to play out five balls of an over, supporting Ian Healy, who hit the winning runs shortly after, in one of the tensest Test matches played in recent times. Following on from that series, he went on to have a major impact in the Ashes series that year in England, culminating in a haul of 7/37 which earned him the Man of the Match at Headingley.

Jason currently stands as the fifth-highest wicket taker for Australia in Tests and is certainly the best fast bowler South Australia has produced. He may well go down in the record books as the last person to make 200 in a Test match and not get selected again. I hope not. It seems in many ways that he is a scapegoat for Australia losing the Ashes in 2005, a tag he doesnt deserve.

I feel that Jason will adapt to life after cricket fairly easily. He is a dedicated husband to his lovely-natured wife, Anna, and a devoted father to his beautiful daughter, Sapphire, and recently arrived son, Jackson. They will keep him well occupied and no matter what else he takes on in the future, be it cricket or business related, I am sure he will be successful. As a man, Jason has always been well liked by his teammates and has been a favourite of cricket fans worldwide for the way he conducts himself.

The Jason Gillespie story has been an interesting one. I hope you enjoy it.

Jeff Bomber Hammond

August 2007

APPARENTLY THERE WAS NO CRICKET BALL CURLED UP IN MY hand when I came into the world on 19 April 1975. Hard to imagine because Ive spent so much of my life in and around cricket since then. I was the first-born child of Vicki and Neil Gillespie. Two-and-a-half years later they welcomed my brother Rob, and in 1987 Lukes birth completed the trifecta. We were just like any other young family; Dad was the one who worked and Mum did a great job bringing us boys up and didnt go out to work. It was a busy time growing up as apart from school we all had our own interests.

My first memory is of the excitement when Mum and Dad bought a block of land in Bangor, southwest of Sydney. While the house was being built, we rented for a year in Dharruk, out in the western part of Sydney towards Penrith. The school I went to was just down the end of the street and I used to ride there on my bike.

As a kid, I was sports mad from the word go. From about the age of four I played soccer and got straight into it. My first team was called the Emerton Rovers; two women coached us. When we moved to Bangor, I played for a team called the Menai Hawks.

I DIDNT PLAY CRICKET UNTIL WE MOVED TO BANGOR. THERE was no school cricket so I ended up playing for the Illawong Cricket Club. Mum and Dad both had a strong involvement, running me around to practice and games. Plus I played in the front yard and on the road in front of the house with the rubbish bin as the wicket, as kids do.

Thanks to Father Christmas one year, I received my first decent cricket bat, a Stuart Surridge Oval Supercover. We had muck-around bats at home and there was also a Symonds Super Tusker in the team kit at Illawong Cricket Club. I opened the batting there so I had first choice of bats and would always pick that bat because it was a corker to use.

Dad liked to watch the cricket and reckons I was mesmerised by Dennis Lillee. When I started playing at Illawong Cricket Club, I used to bowl off a long run and try and mimic him. I won the Junior Cricketer of the Year at Illawong in 1985 at the age of 10, which gave me a big boost. At that stage I was like most young cricketers in that I did a bit of bowling and batting and really didnt know what I was best at.

My first ever proper holiday away with the family was on the south coast of New South Wales and we were staying in this house that was right on the beach. I must have been about eight. I remember not wanting to go down to the beach because the cricket was on the television. I was glued to the box watching these one-day internationals, and Australia was playing. I had to watch every ball. Unless it was a drinks break in the game, I wouldnt even leave the TV to go to the toilet. Thirty seconds between overs didnt give me enough time and I didnt want to risk missing a ball, so if I had to do anything Id wait until that two or three minutes off for drinks then Id grab something to eat or race to the toilet.

Nothing has really changed since. I was a massive cricket nuffy (autograph collector) back then, and although Ive discontinued that hobby, when Im watching a game, I never like to miss a ball.

In the garage under our house in Sydney, I painted a set of stumps in green paint on the brown wall and I used to bowl at them for hours on end. It was about a half pitch, and Id throw a tennis ball against the wall, then hit it. That was something I did until the age of about 15, even after we moved to Adelaide. Although I wasnt supposed to, I used to play inside as well and was often in trouble for smashing a ball and knocking over a photo on the mantelpiece.

Mum is a pretty quiet sort of person, but she is also a very committed person and would insist that if we started a season playing a sport, we had to finish it, we couldnt pull out of things midway. Both Mum and Dad encouraged me and my brothers, Rob and Luke, to play sport rather than sit around and bum around the house.