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Melbourne: After maintaining for long that he would not give up any form of cricket, Australian stumper Adam Gilchrist now says the increasingly gruelling international schedule is forcing him to contemplate ODI retirement in order to prolong his Test career.
Gilchrist said the birth of his third child has also made him re-think his previous stand of continuing with all forms of the game. "Up until the last 12 months, I had never been a guy to consider phasing out one form of the game and just focusing on one," Gilchrist was quoted as saying by 'The Sydney Morning Herald'.
"But I am open to thinking about that now. I have been quite firm on playing both forms in the past, but I guess that things have changed a little," he added. The World Cup star said continuing with his Test career was a priority for him and he was prepared to quit the shorter version of the game for this.
"When a few of the guys started retiring last year, it made me stop and reflect on where I was at personally. And, while the appetite is still very strong to keep playing, I've just noticed the hunger and the drive for Test cricket that guys like Warney and Justin Langer had when they didn't have one-day cricket to consider," he explained.
The dashing left-hander, however, insisted that he was not retiring any time soon and was only beginning to consider the option. "...I am entering another phase in my life with our third child. There is a lot of cricket coming up over the next three years, so there are things to consider.
"That's not to say that I am announcing right now that I am retiring from one-day cricket, but it's just that I am more open-minded about the issue these days," he said. "The trick will be to manage the workload in consultation with the captain, the selectors and Cricket Australia," he added. The 35-year-old was the hero of Australia's third successive World Cup triumph, smashing a hundred in the final against Sri Lanka.
