Gillespie's one no-ball

NAIROBI - If Jason Gillespie is true to his word he shouldn't bowl another no-ball until some time next year.

Gillespie, who took career-best figures of 5-22 as Australia routed Pakistan in the opening match of the triangular cricket series here, says bowling no-balls is one of his pet hates.

He proudly calculated he bowled only one no-ball last season.

"I hate bowling no balls, I don't bowl many - in fact last season I think I bowled just one," he said ahead of today's match against Kenya.

"I did bowl one on Friday so that'll do me for another season."

At Australian training here, Gillespie, Glenn McGrath, Andy Bichel and Brett Lee can be seen helping each other out with their run-ups.

Gillespie pays minute attention to detail and compares his run-up to that of a long jumper trying to hit the take-off board at full speed.

"That's exactly how I approached my run-up a couple of years ago - it's like a long jumper because really you just have to hit the same spot every time. You don't want to be over (the crease) too many times because that costs the team runs."

Where Gillespie seems to have perfected the skill, Lee has struggled in recent seasons but Gillespie was hopeful the speedster's problems were behind him.

"Brett's been tinkering with his run-up a little - just trying a couple of things to find a little bit of rhythm and smoothness in his run-up," he said.

"He bowled fantastic today [at training] - his rhythm was excellent."

Gillespie played down his five-wicket haul in Australia's 224-run win but did admit it made up for the times he should have been more successful but for bad luck.

"I feel I've bowled pretty well without luck a couple of times in the past but the other day was one of those days when the ball didn't always go exactly where I wanted it but wickets came my way."

Gillespie has played surprisingly few one-dayers since his introduction to the side in 1996, racking up just 38 games as injury and specialist one-day bowlers kept him on the sidelines.

But in the past two seasons, the rangy South Australian has been a more regular part of the team.

He hopes the back and leg injuries which have troubled in the past - most recently keeping him out of the second and third Tests against South Africa in Melbourne and Sydney last year - are finally a thing of the past.

He's getting on top of injuries by bowling less at practice and by cutting out road running from his training to remove the stress it puts on knees and back. Yoga and pilates sessions have also helped.