Gillespie wants back in

Jason Gillespie has insisted his time playing for Australia is not over, contrary to popular belief and he is confident of making a return to the national side.

Despite having great a domestic seasons and also doing well with the ball not to mention an incredible 201* in his return series against Bangladesh last year, Gillespie has not been picked in the World Cup squad nor are there any plans by selectors for him to be included in the Test squad with the emergence of Stuart Clark, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait all seemingly ahead of him.

“There’s this perception that I’m too old and it’s crap. They shouldn’t be discounting me because I’m one of the best bowlers in the country and they should be looking at me,” he told the Sunday Mail

“The selectors talk about bringing youth into the side and then I look at the Twenty20 game and they pick Shane Harwood, who is a year older than me.

“It annoys me. Maybe I need to be dying my hair and not letting all the greys come through because the perception is I’m older than I really am. Age can’t be a factor. ”

Gillespie spoke of his determination to force his way back into the team.

“The selectors clearly feel I don’t fit into the Australian team’s plans. But I’m going to keep taking wickets and gradually eliminate their reasons for not picking me.”

The fast bowler was dropped after a costly 2005 Ashes series where he took three wickets for 300 runs from three games.

The 31 year old expressed his disappointment of not even coming into contention for the 2006/07 Ashes in Australia.

“It didn’t kill me to miss the Ashes but to not even be in the framework for selection was hard to accept.”

Gillespie is still not prepared to give up. Even though he acknowledges that he’s been written off, he says he still has faith that he will play for Australia once again.

“I know I’ve still got what it takes. I don’t think I’ve played my last Test,” he said. “I’m at the back of the queue, but I’m bowling as well now as I ever have.

“I got my best ever first-class figures in my last game, so what does that tell you?”

Gillespie has taken 259 wickets from 71 Test matches for Australia.