JASON Gillespie has heaped praise on county cricket as he prepares to wave goodbye to Yorkshire.

Coach Gillespie is on official White Rose duty for the final time tonight at the club’s Player of the Year Gala dinner at Headingley before returning to Adelaide this weekend.

The 41-year-old has spent the last five years in charge of the county, winning two Championship trophies.

County cricket has many detractors, but not Gillespie, who also spent the latter years of his playing career with Yorkshire and Glamorgan.

He has loved every minute, embracing the numerous challenges thrown at him.

“It’s been a wonderful ride,” he said. “I love this club and county cricket. It’s fantastic.

“All three competitions here, I love it. It’s great fun. The passion of the supporters is brilliant, and it’s well supported in the media.

“But it does have its challenges, especially with the sheer volume of cricket and managing your team and the squad.

“You hear a lot about workload management. That seems to be a bit of buzz phrase over the last number of years, but that’s something you do have to consider.

“We’ve had some really good challenges here at the club.

“To use one example, we have Tim Bresnan, who bats and bowls and plays in all forms.

“A really good challenge is how to look after him and make sure, in the schedule, he prepares for games, gets enough rest and spends time with his family.

“Because we’ve gone deep in the two one-day tournaments this year, there’s a lot more cricket and a lot more preparation.

“He’s one example of someone you have to make sure he’s fit and firing at the right times.

“Then there are other players who are only playing one form of the game or the other - young players coming back from injury as well.

“It’s a great challenge, and I’ve really enjoyed it.

“One thing I will say is one of the hardest is finding time to not only practice skills but develop them and improve, while giving them a rest.

“Sometimes the best training session is one we don’t do through the sheer volume of cricket.

“If you’ve got a one-day match coming up on the weekend and one of your fast bowlers has just bowled 50 overs in a Championship game, the reality is that you’re not going to get him in the next morning to do an hour of one-day skills. You’ll just blow him out.”

Gillespie’s first assignment upon returning home will be to take charge of the Adelaide Strikers for his second year in Australia’s T20 Big Bash League this coming December.

After that, he has no definite plans. But he is not expected to be short of offers.

No matter what he does, he insists the last five years will have a lasting impact on his coaching career.

“It’s certainly helped me, there’s no doubt about that,” he added. “I have learnt a lot that will carry me through.

“And I have learnt a lot off the coaches at our club.

“When I arrived, I was the most inexperienced coach. Now, with Richie Pyrah coming on, I’m the second most inexperienced. I’ve developed there!

“We have some great people to learn from and bounce ideas off.

“Our support staff have worked brilliantly together. It’s been so much fun. I am going to miss them, I really am. But it’s the right time.”