Friday 1st August 2008
Champs League: Gilly may play
Former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist could play for the Warriors at the Champions Twenty20 League in September.
Western Australian Cricket Association chief executive Graeme Wood admitted on Friday it was possible for Gilchrist and former teammate Justin Langer to play in the tournament and that he would discuss their availability with WA coach Tom Moody.
But he conceded there was only a small chance either of the pair would play as Moody was confident the current Western Australian squad had the firepower to win the tournament without them.
"He (Langer) has retired basically and Gilly's (Gilchrist) another situation (like that)," said Wood.
"Those sort of things will be discussed but we're very confident we've got the squad that can take us where we want to go in the tournament."
Wood said that despite being beaten by Victoria in last summer's KFC Twenty20 Big Bash final, the Warriors' batsmen had come on in leaps and bounds this year as Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach and Luke Ronchi all featured in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Marsh was the star of the show, making 616 runs at 68.44 for Punjab on his way to winning the Orange Cap as the IPL's highest run scorer.
But one Western Australian who will not be available is batsman Mike Hussey, who may have to play with his IPL side Chennai if given the all clear to leave Australia's touring squad, which will be in India at the time.
"There's a small possibility Mike Hussey will play for Chennai," Wood said.
"He and Matthew Hayden will play for Australia in a warm-up game from October 2 to 5, but there's a window of opportunity for Chennai to maybe have Mike available for a couple of warm up games.
"If they (Chennai) make the final, there's a possibility he may be released to play in the final also," said Wood, although this appears unlikely as the final will be played on October 8, with Australia commencing the first Test against India the following day in Bangalore.
However, Wood said the WACA would be compensated for losing Hussey, saying he believed Chennai would offer the Warriors a 'six-figure sum'.
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