Ashes cricket tests every part of your game, Test cricket is alive, it’s strong, it’s thriving: Jason Gillespie | Cricket News – Times of India

Yet another commanding performance by the Australian cricket team has seen them take a 2-0 lead and a vice-like grip of the ongoing edition of the Ashes. Another win and they will retain the coveted urn.
For the Aussies, this means the world. In many ways, for many Aussie cricketers, winning the Ashes is perhaps even greater glory than winning a World Cup.
Former Australian cricketer Jason Gillespie, who took over 400 international wickets in his career across all three formats, was a guest on Times of India’s sports podcast – Sportscast – recently and spoke about what it really means to be a part of an Ashes battle. It is after all cricket’s oldest rivalry.

Jason Gillespie (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
“Ashes was hard cricket. You speak to players who played 20 years before we did and they would say that it was challenging, it was tough. It tested every part of your game – physically, technically, tactically, but also mentally. And that certainly hasn’t changed. We have seen some great Ashes battles in the very recent past. We have had really great Test cricket battles between countries in the very recent past. Test cricket is alive, it’s strong, it’s thriving. You only have to ask the players. As you mentioned – Shreyas Iyer – its where he wants to be – on the Test ground. Maybe fans, maybe sponsors out there like the shorter forms of the game, but certainly, from a players perspective – a player wants to be tested against the best. You want to play against the very best players and be tested and that’s what Test cricket is all about.” Gillespie said on Sportscast.
Gillespie here was responding to a question which talked about how Shreyas Iyer after making his Test debut and scoring a century in the first innings had spoken about how this is what he was waiting for the most as a cricketer – to represent his country in the longest format of the game, despite having played multiple limited overs matches before that.
The 46-year-old, who took 65 Ashes wickets from 1997 to 2005, also spoke about how he himself puts playing Test cricket and winning Test series at the absolute pinnacle of his career achievements. Gillespie was asked if many Aussie cricketers view winning an Ashes series as a bigger achievement than even winning a World Cup.

Jason Gillespie (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
“For me, my favourite format was Test cricket. I always liked the long format of the game. If you have got me in a corner and say what do you prefer (between Ashes and World Cup) I would probably say Ashes. A lot of other people would say World Cup and that’s fine. That comes down to individual preference. I just love Test cricket so much and that was something that really resonated with me. Probably because I enjoyed Test cricket more. Winning a Test series vs England was pretty special. Winning a Test series against any country was pretty special. I was very fortunate as a player to be able to do that. It’s very tough (to pick) because winning a World Cup is very special as well. Just representing your country is special. It’s a tough question, but because I love Ashes cricket and Test cricket so much, I would probably say that it just edges it out.” Gillespie said on Sportscast.
The next Ashes Test in the ongoing edition will start on Boxing Day, December 26, and will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Listen to the full episode of Sportscast with Jason Gillespie here: