After Gilly its Dizzy who calls it a day …

Jason Gillespie has confirmed he is retiring from Australian first-class cricket at the end of South Australia's current Pura Cup match against Queensland at Adelaide Oval.

The former Test opening bowler, 33 in April, leaves next week to join the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. He has signed a lucrative three-year ICL contract that could affect his commitment to play with Glamorgan in the English county championship this year.

"This will be the last first-class match I play in Australia," Gillespie told a packed media conference - as well as family, friends and past and present team-mates - in the Phil Ridings Room at Adelaide Oval during the lunch break on day one of the SA-Queensland Pura Cup match.

"Cricket has been very good to me. I've travelled the world, I've met some fantastic people and I've spent my time doing the thing I love the most, which is playing cricket.

"But it has always been important to me to end my career on my own terms while I'm still contributing. I do not want to get tapped on the shoulder and shown the door.

"And the time has come - I have a young family to consider. My daughter (Sapphire) has reached her teens. I've travelled for all of her life. I think it is time I was around for her and her (young) brothers (Jackson and Brandon) and my wife (Anna)."

Gillespie said he was grateful to Cricket Australia for 'sticking by' him early in his career when he was plagued by injuries, and also to the Australian and SA selectors who 'had faith' in him.

And he said he 'owed an immense amount' to his Australian team-mates, captains, coaches and team staff at Cricket Australia who had supported him over the years, and it had been a 'privilege' to be a part of the SA team and the SA Cricket Association.

Gillespie also thanked his local club, Adelaide, and his former English county club, Yorkshire, his sponsors - and even the media! And he thanked Jeff 'Bomber' Hammond for teaching him to bowl and Darren 'Boof Lehmann for teaching him to 'play the game the right way'.

Gillespie said he would play in a coming ICL Twenty20 tournament and then go to England 'to fulfil my commitments with Glamorgan County Cricket Club'.

"I'm very excited - it certainly is a change," he said. "But it's something I'm very much looking forward to. It's just an opportunity to do something a little bit different and it's exciting."

"The opportunity came up and I had to weigh things up. I wasn't sure what I was going to do - whether I was going to play on another season with SA. I was umming and aahing at that point."

"The body is feeling good so we'll see how we go. Obviously I can't do the things I could do six or seven years ago, but I still feel I'm contributing."

Pressed on whether he could still play English county cricket after having played in the ICL, Gillespie said: "Well, I've got a contract with Glamorgan. I'm certainly going to be fulfilling that contract and I hope they'll do the same."

When it was put to him that the England & Wales Cricket Board had said this week that overseas-contracted players in the ICL would not be able to play county cricket, Gillespie said: "Look, I'm not up to speed with all those things. I've got a contract and I certainly fully expect to fulfil that contract with Glamorgan."

In a career of 175 first-class matches since 1994-95, he has taken 588 wickets at an average of 26.43, but, for all his fine bowling deeds, he may well be remembered, most for his stunning 201 not out as a nightwatchman in Bangladesh in 2006 - in his final Test innings.

Gillespie is sixth on the list of Australia's Test wicket-takers, equal 10th on the list of first-class wicket-takers for SA and eighth on SA's list of Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup wicket-takers.

He took 259 wickets at 26.14 in 71 Tests for Australia and before this match against Queensland he had taken 201 wickets at 24.99 in 53 Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup matches for SA.

MOST TEST WICKETS FOR AUSTRALIA
708 Shane Warne (145 matches, 25.42 average)
563 Glenn McGrath (124, 21.64)
355 Dennis Lillee (70, 23.92)
291 Craig McDermott (71, 28.63)
271 Brett Lee (65, 29.98)
259 Jason Gillespie (71, 26.14)
248 Richie Benaud (63, 27.03)
246 Graham McKenzie (60, 29.79)
228 Ray Lindwall (61, 23.03)
216 Clarrie Grimmett (37, 24.22)
212 Merv Hughes (53, 28.38)
203 Stuart MacGill (42, 28.14)
200 Jeff Thomson (51, 28.01)

MOST FIRST-CLASS WICKETS FOR SA
668 Clarrie Grimmett (24.79 average)
411 George Giffen (23.35)
390 Ashley Mallett (24.44)
302 Peter Sleep (39.86)
289 Tim May (37.76)
259 Terry Jenner (29.85)
248 Ernie Jones (26.20)
245 Peter McIntyre (39.49)
236 Geff Noblet (18.88)
211 Neil Hawke (27.50)
211 Jason Gillespie (25.33)