Proud new father Adam Gilchrist will not curb his natural attacking game as he prepares to spearhead Australia's World Cup defence.
KINGSTOWN: Proud new father Adam Gilchrist will not curb his natural attacking game as he prepares to spearhead Australia's World Cup defence.
Gilchrist, who has just become a dad for the third time, arrived here too late to feature in his side's opening warm-up match against Zimbabwe later Tuesday, but he is likely to play against England on Friday before the serious matters of first round Group A matches begin.
Skipper Ricky Ponting believes that the paternity leave the 35-year-old Gilchrist enjoyed will help inspire him to return to the big-hitting heights which have made him one of the game's most feared limited-overs batsmen.
And despite recent setbacks, Ponting expects it to be business as usual for Gilchrist.
"No matter what the situation of the game, he pretty much plays the same way every time," Ponting said.
"He just gets on a bit of a roll and he doesn't know how to stop. We know in one-day cricket if he plays the way he can at the top for an extended period of time, he sets up games for us.
"With a player like 'Gilly', I think you take the good with the bad a lot of the time. But in saying that, it would be nice to see him bat late into the innings.
"On a few occasions over the World Cup if he does then we are going to make some big scores."
Left-hander Gilchrist, who skipped the series loss in New Zealand just before the World Cup to be his wife Mel when she gave birth to the couple's third child Archie, arrives in the Caribbean with plenty to prove.
Despite a career record of 8,585 runs from 251 one-dayers, he was a shadow of his former self in the tri-nations series with England and New Zealand where he averaged just 22, a poor return for a man with 14 ODI centuries and 48 half-centuries to his name.
"Whenever Gilly has had a break he has come back with a bit of a bang," added Ponting.
"To have a break and get away for a while and to be able to spend a bit of time with his family and a new-born baby will hopefully be terrific for him. With the break now, hopefully that will translate into a big World Cup for us."
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