For Australians, it means the world. In many ways, for many Australian cricketers, winning the Ashes is perhaps a greater pride than winning the World Cup.
former australian cricketer Jason Gillespie, who took over 400 international wickets in his career across all three formats, was recently a guest on Times of India’s sports podcast – Sportscast and talked about what it really means to be a part of the battle for Ashes. After all, this is the oldest rivalry in cricket.
Jason Gillespie (Photo by François Nel/Getty Images)
“The Ashes was tough cricket. You talk to players who played 20 years ago and they would say it was challenging, it was tough. It tested every part of your game – physical, technical, tactical, but also mentally And that certainly hasn’t changed. We’ve seen some great Ashes battles in recent times. We’ve seen really great Test cricket battles between countries in recent times. Test cricket is alive, it’s strong, It’s flourishing. All you have to do is ask the players. Like you mentioned – Shreyas Iyer – Where he wants to be – on the test ground. Maybe fans, maybe sponsors out there like smaller forms of the game, but of course, from a players perspective – a player wants to be tested against the best. You want to play against the best players and get tested and that’s what Test cricket is all about,” Gillespie said on Sportscast.
Gillespie was responding to a question here, which narrated how Shreyas Iyer, after making his Test debut and scoring a century in the first innings, talked about how he had the longest time as a cricketer. Waited till then to represent his country. The format of the game despite having played several limited overs matches before this.
The 46-year-old, who took 65 Ashes wickets from 1997 to 2005, also spoke about how he himself plays Test cricket and wins Test series at the absolute peak of his career achievements. Gillespie was asked whether many Australian cricketers consider winning the Ashes series a bigger achievement than winning the World Cup.
Jason Gillespie (Photo by François Nel/Getty Images)
“For me, my favorite format was Test cricket. I’ve always liked the longer format of the game. If you put me in a corner and say what do you prefer (between the Ashes and the World Cup) I would probably say Ashes A lot of other people would say that the World Cup and that’s fine. It just comes down to personal preference. I just love Test cricket and it was something that really resonated with me. Maybe it’s because I took up Test cricket. Enjoyed more. Winning the Test series vs England was very special. Winning a Test series against any country was very special. I was very fortunate as a player who was able to do that. It is very difficult (to pick) because the world Winning the Cup is also very special. Just representing my country is special. It is a tough question, but because I love Ashes cricket and Test cricket so much, I would probably say it kills it.” Gillespie said on Sportscast.
next Ashes Test Boxing Day, in the ongoing edition, will begin on December 26 and will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Hear the full episode of Sportscast with Jason Gillespie here:
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