Gillespie to recover for Caribbean tour

MELBOURNE: Australian pacer Jason Gillespie, whose World Cup agenda was aborted last month by a heel injury, is likely to be fit for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies. Team physiotherapist Errol Alcott believes the Test series start-date of April 10 in the Caribbean, gives Gillespie ample time to recover.

The injury is expected to take four to six weeks to heal and when the team leaves for the Caribbean on March 31 he would have already been sidelined for five weeks. Australian Cricket Board (ACB) doctor Trefor James looked at Gillespie’s last Friday and confirmed that the vastly improved fast bowler should not take beyond six weeks to recover. “If he progresses as we think he should, then he should come up trumps for the tour,” Alcott told reporters.

Alcott added that Gillespie’s injury could be related to an ongoing problem he has had since October 2002. Left-arm fast bowler Nathan Bracken replaced Gillespie in Australia’s World Cup squad. The Australians are scheduled to arrive in the Caribbean on April 2 for a four-Test series between April 10 and May 13, and seven One-Day Internationals from May 17 to June.