Jason Gillespie reaffirms his total commitment to Yorkshire CCC ahead of 2016 season

Gillespie has been touted as a possible contender to replace Craig McDermott after McDermott announced on Tuesday that he is standing down as Australia’s assistant coach/bowling coach after the World T20, which starts next week.

McDermott – who is leaving to concentrate on the expansion of his cricket academies and outside business interests – is 
No 2 to Australia head coach Darren Lehmann, the former Yorkshire batsman and one of Gillespie’s best friends.

It has fuelled inevitable speculation that Gillespie, who has established a reputation as one of the game’s finest and most sought-after coaches during his four seasons as Yorkshire first team coach, could be targeted as a potential replacement.

But the former Australia fast bowler, who is invariably linked with any major international coaching job that comes up, and was sounded out last summer by England, stressed that he is not interested in leaving Yorkshire.

He enjoys an excellent working relationship with director of cricket Martyn Moxon, with whom he has transformed Yorkshire’s fortunes in recent times, and said he is happy and fulfilled in his present position and secondary role with T20 franchise Adelaide Strikers.

“I haven’t been approached by Cricket Australia or had any conversations with them,” said Gillespie.

“I’ve seen the speculation about me after Craig McDermott announced that he is leaving, but it’s not something that I’m coveting and I don’t even know what the role is, to be perfectly honest.

“I played under Boof (Lehmann) and he’s a close mate, and if people ever want to talk to me about anything then they’ve got my number and no doubt they’ll call me.

“As in any walk of life, if someone rings you up, you listen to what they have to say, but I can assure people that I’ve got absolutely no intention of going anywhere.”

Gillespie’s commitment to Yorkshire is beyond question and fits in perfectly with his family situation, with his wife and four young children happily settled in Leeds.

The prospect of moving abroad and then spending long periods away on the international circuit, therefore, would be extremely challenging.

“For me, it all comes down to what’s best for me and my family,” he added.

“I’ve got to find that balance between job satisfaction, development and improvement as a coach, and family life.

“I also have an elder daughter in Adelaide, whose just turned 21, and I didn’t see much of her growing up because I was always playing cricket.

“I’m very close to her, but in an ideal world I would have liked to see her grow up a bit more and have more of a role in my life, which is what I want now with my four youngest kids.”

Gillespie already spends considerable time away from home in his Yorkshire job.

The county season is no 9-5, with seven nights a week at home and the weekends off, but an increasingly draining schedule that renders family time precious.

“In this industry, as wonderful and privileged as it is to be involved in it, there are times when you’re away from home for days at a time,” said Gillespie.

“That’s just the brutal reality of what we do.

“On top of that, I love my job at Yorkshire, and I’m very excited about what we can achieve going forward.

“We’ve won back-to-back County Championships, and we want to build on that as much as possible.”

Under Gillespie, Yorkshire have a remarkable record, having lost only four of 64 Championship games.