Gilchrist rests for big picture

Adam Gilchrist expects more senior Australia players to miss smaller tournaments as their workloads are managed in the lead-up to the World Cup. At the end of the Bangladesh series in April Gilchrist was exhausted and there were serious rumblings that this would be his final international summer, but he has been refreshed by a tour-free winter and had no concrete retirement plans during a gap in the team camp at Coolum.

"I don't suggest you make those big decisions when you are worn out and tired," he said. "Just like you shouldn't make big statements when you're fresh after a big break. The way I feel now I'm keen to keep playing, get through this summer, get through all the way to the World Cup, win the final, and then there's no doubt there will be a reassessment."

Gilchrist completed a similar exercise after the 2003 victory in South Africa and he said he knew there would be a day when it would feel right to step aside. "But I'm not earmarking a time at the moment as to when I'll move out," he said.

To help manage the closing stages of his spectacular career Gilchrist will skip the tri-series in Malaysia next month and instead prepare for October's Champions Trophy at home in Perth. As well as his individual weights and sprint sessions, he plans to train with the Western Australia squad as Brad Haddin picks up the gloves in his absence against India and West Indies.

Gilchrist was criticised earlier in the year for complaining about his workload, but he wanted supporters to understand the team's long-term outlook. "I think it's part of the management process of several players now," he said of the decision to allow senior squad members to have tours or matches off. "It's been well documented about our workload - I can understand people out there saying 'why does he need a rest after he's had four or five months off?' - but it's about the big picture and preparing for what's coming up."

The summer is full of blue-chip events with the Ashes and World Cup following the Champions Trophy, and Gilchrist said the policy was being used to keep Australian cricket at its peak. Gilchrist's international campaign should begin in India and he has vowed to stay true to his batting instincts despite a relatively lean streak that began during the 2005 Ashes.

The 144 to revive Australia in the first Test against Bangladesh was his first hundred in 16 matches and during the VB Series his position was under severe scrutiny before he finished in a flurry of two centuries, including one in the third final to defeat Sri Lanka. "There's been no major surgery to my batting," he said. "I'd had a break and cleared my head and got solid thought processes about what England are going to produce or what's going to happen in one-day cricket. The main thing is you've got to be confident in what got you to this level."