Gilchrist may bid adieu to ODIs

Sydney, June 1 (UNI) Prompted by the birth of his third child coupled with the ever-demanding schedule, flamboyant Aussie wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist today said he is considering retiring from the ODIs to prolong his Test career.

''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. 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,'' Gilchrist said on the sidelines of his online stockbroking game launch.

''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 explained.

The thirty five-year-old Aussie had an impressive run in recent times especially in the Caribbean World Cup final where the southpaw hit a scintillating century to help his team lift the Cup beating Sri Lanka. He is now all set to dazzle again in the upcoming seven-match tour of India later this year and the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa and the Australian summer.

However, beyond that Gilchrist's involvement with the Australian one-day side is uncertain.

After pocketing the world cup safely for the next four years, Australia now faces an uphill task of maintaining their test dominance especially now that some of its stalwarts like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn and coach John Buchanan have retired.

But the southpaw opener is, however, hopeful of handling the workload.

''The trick will be to manage the workload in consultation with the captain, the selectors and Cricket Australia,'' he was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Now that Gilchrist may quit one-day internationals, it will come as a pleasant news to 29-year-old Brad Haddin who with his experience of 21 one-day internationals would be the obvious successor to Gilchrist.

UNI