Gillespie promises to stay with Redbacks

Jason Gillespie has vowed to stay on at South Australia despite their dismal season and has put his hand up for the captaincy role. Gillespie said earlier this month he did not have a Redbacks contract for next season and might have to consider moving interstate to continue his career.

However, he said this week a key reason he had not signed on for 2007-08 was that Cricket Australia contracts were still to be negotiated and although he thought he would not receive one, it was an outside possibility. "I am unlikely to get a CA contract and my loyalties are with South Australia," Gillespie told The Advertiser.

"I can't imagine going anywhere else. My wife and I have just bought a house and are enrolling our one-year-old at school here. There's only Boof [Darren Lehmann] and I who have tasted a flag in 1995-96. We want the guys playing now to have the same feeling. I know we will have some success."

Gillespie said he would love to take over from Lehmann as captain but believed the job was more likely to go to a younger player. "If I got offered the captaincy, that would be fantastic but I think it will be a longer-term candidate," he said. "Someone who is a bit younger and can lead the state for many years as a successor to Darren Lehmann."

At the very least Gillespie is keen to take a leadership role in lifting South Australia from their last-placed finish in the Pura Cup this season. Any progress the Redbacks make will be with a new captain and coach after Lehmann and Wayne Phillips resigned their posts this month.

"I was a big fan of Flipper [Phillips] but we didn't perform well enough on the field and he lost his job because of that," Gillespie said. "We can only really move up from last place. The new captain can only help us improve." Nathan Adcock is considered the favourite to succeed Lehmann and Gillespie said whoever took on the role would do so with the backing of the senior squad members.

"The older players - Boof, Matty Elliott, Shane Deitz and myself - will be fully supportive of whoever is captain," Gillespie said. "It's a new phase in our careers. We will contribute in any way we can. Whoever gets the job with the Redbacks will benefit from Boof's advice."