Jason Gillespie had all the ingredients of a typical 90s fast bowler - flowing mane, bubbling aggressiveness and a steely resolve to bowl long spells. Although injuries crippled him throughout his career, he still managed to be a vital cog of Australia's bowling unit during their golden era in international cricket. Gillespie also provided the ideal foil for Glenn McGrath as the duo became the most successful Australian bowling partnership of all times. McGrath's unerring accuracy blended really well with Gillespie's fiery aggression as the duo almost always made optimum use of the new ball to slice through the opposition top order. Since his playing days, 'Dizzy' as he is fondly known, has taken to coaching and established himself as one of the best in the department.

Gillespie burst into the international scene as one of the quickest bowlers going around in the Australian domestic circuit. His booming pace and aggression coupled with his stamina ensured that he got most things right as a fast bowler. However, from his international debut in 1996 till the 2001-2002 season, his story was more about injuries than on-field achievements. It wasn't a secret that he had a fragile body that coped with most of the probable injuries that you would associate with a cricketer. Nevertheless, super strong domestic performances kept coming and it ensured that Gillespie was always in the reckoning as far as Australia's pace stocks were concerned. Since 2001-02, a shortened run up helped him reduce injuries considerably and finally, his work on the field spoke loudly.

Over the next few years, Gillespie formed a lethal new ball combination with McGrath. You would never really see Dizzy run through a line-up or dominate an opposition as such because of the extravagant movement he would get off the pitch at times. The pundits at times felt that he got too much bite off the surface and as a result, produced more plays-and-misses than edges. You could term Gillespie a tad unlucky in many of his spells but yet, he had superb numbers in both formats of the game. Apart from being a destructive quick bowler, he was also a very stubborn batsman who had a very strong defensive game. Gillespie played the nightwatchman role many a time to perfection and one of those efforts resulted in a heroic double century as well.

Gillespie's career ended surprisingly after just one poor season in 2005-06. What's more surprising is the fact that he was Man of the Series in his last assignment in Bangladesh. That was when the marathon double century also came and he had also picked up a lot of wickets as well. However, that call up had come primarily due to McGrath's absence and with him returning, Gillespie had to be dropped. He didn't expect that he had played his last game for Australia and hence, toiled hard in the domestic circuit and even went to play the rebel Indian Cricket League. After a while, he realized that there was no comeback and retired in 2008. His coaching stints, particularly with Yorkshire and the Adelaide Strikers in the BBL have been particularly noteworthy. Gillespie is expected to coach Australia some day.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan