Five-month holiday? Tough life, Gilly

I write to you from my deckchair in Sydney, where the April sun is not too harsh and the Shaw and Smith is slipping down a treat. The harbour looks great and the sea bass at Doyle's on Watson's Bay couldn't be fresher - but Adam Gilchrist has got to be joking.

Towards the end of Australia's admittedly tougher than expected time in Bangladesh, he headed off for five months' holiday with another bleat about burnout. Gilchrist at least deserves our gratitude for pointing out that the Champions Trophy in India in October ought not to be a priority in a year when Australia and England have their eyes on the Ashes rematch two months later. The tournament is no more than an add-on gig for the ICC and gives second-rate countries the opportunity to be humiliated in public for a couple of weeks. In short, it's a workout. And Gilchrist doesn't want to be there, obviously.

'The guys' must have been talking about it because Ricky Ponting the following day repeated the mantra that the international schedule is too demanding. Cricket Australia told them to put a sock in it. Without being totally unsympathetic, I reckon there are thousands of weekend cricketers out there wondering what 'the guys' are complaining about. The only break well-paid athletes should get is when they are injured, near physical or mental collapse, rushing home for personal reasons or resting on the eve of a major match or tournament.

Otherwise, they should go to work like the rest of us. It's what the Packer revolutionaries fought for. Sure Gilchrist is tired. But if he's not a millionaire, he ought to be. My brother - who works up to 12 hours a day as a boilermaker in a stinking hot iron-ore plant in a part of Western Australia you've never heard of and where there's not a lot to do but work, drink and stay out of fights - doesn't particularly feel like getting out of bed every day either.

As it happens, brother's quite good at it (Boilermaking that is. And drinking. And staying out of fights. Mostly). But he's not that good at keeping wicket for Australia or hitting hundreds. Tough drop of the cards for him really.

Gilchrist and Ponting have different life options to most of us because of their athletic gifts and sometimes such blessed individuals don't know they're born. Ponting also has the responsibility and honour of leadership, a job that comes wrapped in the insurance of a very lucrative post-cricket career.

By the way, he and the team rubber-stamped the schedule in the not-unreasonable expectation of swatting Bangladesh in back-to-back Tests and one-dayers (after seeing off South Africa) without breaking sweat. The skipper was in terrific form, as was Gilchrist at the end - but so were some of the opposition. Tough drop of the cards that really.

Gilchrist is, by all accounts, a well-balanced individual aware of his responsibilities and privileges as an elite athlete. And, given his near-constant involvement on both sides of the stumps, there have been times when he has had to push his mind and body to the limit longer than is comfortable. So he speaks from a position of strength.

But he needs to step back, as does Ponting, to get a little perspective. Given their exceptional talent, the consequences of their under-performing because of an onerous workload are not so dire that they risk being out of a job for long.

Ponting is growing as a captain and is the best batsman in the world right now. Unemployment does not loom large for Punter. Gilchrist is, by general consensus, the finest wicketkeeper-batsman in the history of the game. And, given the likely balance of the Australian team over the next year or so, he remains indispensable as their allrounder.

However, if there were someone pushing Gilchrist hard for his place, you could bet Punter's pay packet he would not be asking for a rest. It's the luxury of dominance. Ian Healy virtually begged for one last Test match. Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors at the time, told him to forget it - and gave his place to Gilchrist. That's the luxury of competition.

Geraint Jones won't be pleading for Chris Read to take the gloves in the Champions Trophy while he rests up for the Ashes. And Ashley Giles (if fit) will be desperate to get his place back ahead of Monty Panesar, Alex Loudon, Ian Blackwell and Shaun Udal. And at what point this summer will James Anderson be saying: "After you, mate. You need the overs"? There is serious money at stake for international players in a market-place that has rediscovered cricket, which is why they play for longer. At least seven of Australia's team will be over 35 this winter.

Obviously it's physically demanding, especially for fast bowlers, whose bodies are subjected to extreme examinations; rotation of the quick men makes sense. Mentally, too, players need a break - but five months? Not bad - especially when Australia will be coming up against an England team with nearly a year-and-a-half of solid cricket behind them.

So, how tough is it at the top? The day after Gilchrist's complaint, the lifestyle of their rich and famous cricketers was brilliantly lampooned in the Sydney Daily Telegraph. A witheringly sarcastic article accompanied pictures of the players relaxing at poolside, touring the world's great sights, riding camels and generally having a fine old time.

Well, somebody's got to be there to keep an eye on them. Cheers.