Jason Gillespie on Monday denied being approached to take over as the bowling coach of the Australian cricket team and said that he had no plans of leaving the English county Yorkshire.
The rumour escalated after Australian coach and former Yorkshire player Darren Lehmann said in a radio interview last week that Gillespie would "certainly be at the forefront with other bowling coaches". Australia have been without a bowling coach after Craig McDermott stepped down in March following their elimination from the World T20.
But Gillespie, who has been coaching Yorkshire since 2011, rebuffed all the rumours and said that he is concentrating on his role for the ruling champions. “I haven’t had any contact, so there’s nothing to report to be honest. If anything changes, I’ll let you know. At this point, it’s just focusing on my role here.
“There is still a lot to do at Yorkshire and I solely want to concentrate on helping this team win cricket matches. You don’t rule out opportunities in the future. It’s whether you feel like you can make a difference in any job that comes available," he told his county's website.
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He was rumoured to take over as the coach of England cricket team last year to replace Peter Moores, before the job was handed over to Trevor Bayliss. Gillespie was also the preferred choice to coach his home team South Australia, but he did not take up the offer as his family had settled in Yorkshire.
The former right-arm fast bowler, who has 259 wickets in 71 Tests has made a fine mark as the coach of Yorkshire, helping the Headingley club earn promotion to the Specsavers County Championship First Division and has been instrumental in their back-to-back title triumphs.
Gillespie, however, hinted that he would not mind considering any such opportunity in the future. “It’s well documented that I’ve got four kids under the age of 10. My eldest daughter, she’s 21, has just had a little girl. So family is important, and it should be an important consideration.
“Any job that comes up, certainly, I’ve always said family comes first. If any opportunities come up in the future, that would certainly be a consideration.”
Dizzy, as he is known in the cricketing circuit, had also coached the Adelaide Strikers team in the 2015-16 Big Bash league, which lost to Sydney Thunders in the semi-finals. He was also the bowling coach for Kings XI Punjab in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League in 2011.
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