Rest players for Champions Trophy, says Gilchrist

Adam Gilchrist: 'We have to get our priorities right' © Getty Images

Adam Gilchrist has recommended that Australia rest some of its key players for the Champions Trophy one-day tournament so that they are fresh and ready to take on England in a bid to regain the Ashes later this year. Australia, who lost in England 2-1 last year, host them in the 2006-07 season, and Gilchrist recommended that the selectors plan the teams for the season around that series.

"We have to get our priorities right there," Gilchrist was quoted as saying in Sydney Morning Herald. "It is important that selectors, administrators, players and whoever else needs to be involved sits down and nuts that out.

"I am not saying no-one goes, or all key players [don't go to the Champions Trophy] ... I don't know. But we have to sit down and address it, definitely. I think we have to look very, very seriously at that lead into the Ashes.

"There is the Champions Trophy, and I believe there are potentially other games of one-day cricket that may come up prior to that. We are going to have to be very careful about what we want to prioritise as most important."

While Gilchrist made his views clear, they certainly didn't find much support from Cricket Australia - Michael Brown, their operations manager, ruled out a "mass rest", instead stating that the best team will be selected.

"We are worried about the whole seven months of cricket. The ICC Champions Trophy is clearly important to Cricket Australia. We'll be sending a very, very good team, the best team available at the time," Brown said. "For us, the ICC tournaments are of number one importance. We have never won a Champions Trophy and would like to win it. I can't stress this enough about the Champions Trophy: we'll be going with a team that we intend to win it [with].

"Part of our strategic plan is to lead the world in cricket performance, so to entertain the thought that we're going to be mass resting players is not going to happen. What we will do is individually manage every player's workload over the period because let's not forget that some players over the next 12 months play very little cricket."

There are suggestions that England might rest some of their players - including Andrew Flintoff - for the Champions Trophy. However, Brown defended Cricket Australia's stance on the matter by pointing to the schedules for the two teams: England play seven Tests and ten ODIs in the summer before heading to India for the Champions Trophy in October; Australia, on the other hand, have a five-month break before the tournament.

"What we will do is prioritise the whole summer," Brown said. "We've got an incredible six or seven months of cricket and we'll prioritise to make sure that all our players are prepared in the best way they can be for every match they play."