After maintaining for long that he would not give up any form of cricket, Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist now says the increasingly gruelling international schedule is forcing him to contemplate retirement from One-Day Internationals in order to prolong his Test career.
Gilchrist said the birth of his third child has also made him re-think his previous stand of continuing with all forms of the game.
"Up until the last 12 months, I had never been a guy to consider phasing out one form of the game and just focusing on one," Gilchrist was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.
- Also read: Gilchrist lights up final
"But I am open to thinking about that now. I have been quite firm on playing both forms in the past, but I guess that things have changed a little," he added.
The 35-year-old said continuing with his Test career is a priority for him and he is prepared to quit the shorter version of the game for this.
"When a few of the guys started retiring last year, it made me stop and reflect on where I was at personally. And, while the appetite is still very strong to keep playing, I've just noticed the hunger and the drive for Test cricket that guys like Warney [Shane Warne] and Justin Langer had when they didn't have one-day cricket to consider," he explained.
The dashing left-hander, however, insisted that he is not retiring any time soon and is only beginning to consider the option.
"I am entering another phase in my life with our third child. There is a lot of cricket coming up over the next three years, so there are things to consider.
"That's not to say that I am announcing right now that I am retiring from one-day cricket, but it's just that I am more open-minded about the issue these days," he said.
"The trick will be to manage the workload in consultation with the captain, the selectors and Cricket Australia," he added.
The left-hander was the hero of Australia's third successive World Cup triumph, smashing a hundred in the final against Sri Lanka.
