Jason Gillespie slams South Australia’s cricket culture at the grade level, keen to change Pakistan

Ahead of taking up his new post with Pakistan cricket, Jason Gillespie speaks to DANIEL CHERNY about his frustrations within South Australian cricket following his departure as the state’s head coach.

Jason Gillespie says he was worn down by a culture of negativity and self-interest in South Australian cricket and has been assured by Pakistan Cricket Board officials that they want to change a longstanding history of volatility.

In a wide-ranging interview with Code Sports following his recent appointment as coach of Pakistan’s men’s Test side on a two-year deal, the Australian pace great:

– said he would remain based in Adelaide but would have regular trips to Pakistan;

– noted a sense of “unfinished business” after leaving the head coach role with the SA men’s side;

– bemoaned the whinging from within SA grade cricket;

– revealed that he had sought counsel from ex-Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore and would do the same with Geoff Lawson, who also mentored the famously mercurial outfit;

– and stressed the importance of a “squad mentality” within the Pakistan side, adding that he was prepared to allow players to be rested for some Test cricket to prepare for important white-ball commitments depending on circumstances.

Gillespie has taken aim at the self-interest within South Australian cricket. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

Gillespie, 49, had a year remaining on his contracts with the SACA to coach both the state men’s side (formerly the Redbacks) and the Big Bash League’s Adelaide Strikers, but said that when the Pakistan opportunity presented itself, he had to jump.

The 71-Test Aussie quick took the Strikers to their maiden BBL crown six years ago but despite a one-day final berth in 2022-23, he had been unable to return SA to the top of the Sheffield Shield, where the state’s drought extends almost three decades.

He had been buoyed by the rise of the likes of Nathan McSweeney, Nathan McAndrew, Jordan Buckingham and Wes Agar and is optimistic about the side’s future, but said that ultimately the chance to coach an international side was too strong to pass.

“What we’ve built over a number of years, we’re seeing massive progression so that was weighing on my mind. (But) I had a year to run on my contract and I was probably going to move on at the end of that anyway. Whether I moved on or was moved on. Either way, it was probably in the last season anyway,” Gillespie said.

“It was just something that I couldn’t turn down ultimately, that may have been the only international gig I’d ever get offered and I just felt it was time to do it.”

While he remained broadly bullish about the SA squad, Gillespie said he’d been left exasperated by the attitudes of SA Premier Cricket clubs, in particular around the recruitment of players from outside SA like McSweeney, McAndrew, Buckingham and Jake Fraser-McGurk.

“I think the frustration for me as coach and I hear all the rhetoric around club land and around South Australia. What the (Mike) Hussey review (into SA cricket in 2020), specifically said that the SACA should be targeting the best young players whether they are inside or outside the South Australian borders.

Jason Gillespie doe not hold back. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

“You just do your job and you get crucified. But I suppose that’s club land in general in South Australia. Everyone’s got a chip on their shoulder. Everyone’s got an opinion.

“The feeling I had was almost in club land and in Adelaide in South Australia, it was almost that people are happier when the South Australian team are not performing. Then they can have a moan and can continue to complain.

“I’ll be honest, it got pretty exhausting. There’s so much negativity. I would have loved one day in my role at South Australia, for someone in club land to say, ‘what can we do to help South Australian cricket?’ Never got that once.

“It’s all ‘what is the SACA’ doing for us? Why are they doing this? Why are they doing that?’ It’s very narrow minded. It’s very all about their own individual clubs. And that was a frustration for me.

“It got frustrating at times, I must admit and very deflating at times. Because I know how hard everyone at the SACA works. I see it all, we’re trying to help players be the best they can be and help them improve, help them develop.

“And while we had some wins along the way, the times when we couldn’t get over the line and are learning and developing all the time. And, you know, I think, you know, we’re definitely on the cusp of something pretty special.”

Acknowledging the shortcomings in SA’s batting, Gillespie said he had been especially buoyed by the improvement in the team’s fielding.

“We identified a couple of years ago that our catching needed to improve. We went from being the worst percentage catching behind the wicket to the best in the space of 12 months.”

Pakistan is not known for being a beacon of stability, however Gillespie said he was prepared for the specific challenges of coaching the national team in a cricket-mad nation of 235 million people.

Gillespie will have the services of one of the world’s best batters, Babar Azam, as Pakistan head coach. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

“I’ve spoken to a number of people including Dav Whatmore who obviously coached a number of countries over the years and he gave me some good intel, good advice. I’m looking to catch up with Geoff Lawson at some point. Also spoke to Simon Helmot who was with the Pakistan side last summer in Australia. And he gave me some great insights into the players, the squad, how they go about it and it was all very positive which was exciting,” Gillespie said.

“I’m going in with my eyes wide open. Make no mistake of that. I understand that there’s been some turnaround of support staff over the years but you can only go by what you’ve been (told).

“The communication I’ve had with Pakistan with the PCB has been nothing short of excellent. They’re desperate to change the perception of Pakistan cricket, the board, the selectors everything.

“They don’t want to be seen as being ‘changes left right and centre and moving coaches on changing the team every single game.’ They want to change that perception. And they want more consistency in all that.

“And I believe that the more consistency you have off the field gives your players the best chance to be consistent on the field. So we’ll certainly be striving hard for that.”

Gillespie – whose first assignment is at home against Bangladesh in August – will share coaching duties with former South African opener Gary Kirsten, in charge of Pakistan’s white-ball set up.

Noting the difficulties of managing national team priorities in an era of franchise cricket, Gillespie said Pakistan needed to develop more than 11 players up to the standard of international cricket and that the best XI for any given Test would not necessarily be picked.

“It’ll come down to priorities depends what’s coming up.

“Say we play a three-Test series and we’re 2-0 up in that series. That may be one example where you could look to look after a quick for instance, and freshen them up particularly if there’s some one-day or T20 cricket following that, that’s just probably one basic example off top of my head where you can look to manage your players, without using the word rotation.

“I’ve spoken to Gary about this, we don’t just want to have 11 players in our respective format playing all the games we need to have, we need to think ‘squad mentality.’ So I’d like to think that we’ll have in the Test team, we’ll have a squad of 15, 16 who we can wax in wax out in any number of players depending on the situation, conditions. how they’re feeling.”

Gillespie said he had not yet had any discussions with Haris Rauf about whether the paceman wanted to return to Test cricket after he pulled out of last summer’s tour of Australia, prioritising his involvement in the BBL with the Melbourne Stars.

Originally published as Jason Gillespie slams South Australia’s cricket culture at the grade level, keen to change Pakistan