Who is the real Jason Gillespie? The fast bowler who, occasionally, when he beats a batsman, glares at him with mad staring eyes as though he is auditioning for Jack Nicholson’s part as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s thriller The Shining? Or the shy young man who cut off his ponytail before joining the Australian squad to avoid any embarrassment during the 1996 World Cup?

The answer is neither. It’s only on the field, and then on very rare occasions, that Gillespie unleashes the ‘crazy Jack look’. During the Kevin Pietersen onslaught in Bristol last Sunday it was noticeable that Gillespie’s glare was nowhere to be seen. Off the field he is more likely to seek company for a quiet beer and a chat on cricket than emulate the scary Torrance and frighten people away.

The real Jason Gillespie is a top-class fast bowler, whose generally understated demeanour has kept him below the radar despite taking almost 250 Test wickets. And his idea of scary is tenuous at best; he enjoys watching combatants from the WWE grapple each other.

Despite the fact Gillespie, on claiming his first victim in the Ashes series, will become the fifth highest Australian wicket-taker, his greatest achievement is to have played in more than 60 Tests. At the start of his international career he was beset by injuries, some self-inflicted and others just plain unlucky. For a while it looked doubtful if Gillespie would ever complete consecutive Tests. However, there was never any doubt Gillespie could bowl: his Test best of seven for 37 at Headingley in 1997 was ample confirmation of a powerful engine operating on a fragile chassis.

Then, in the 1998-99 season, his career took a turn for the better when my brother, Greg, became South Australia’s cricket manager. After witnessing the instability in his delivery stride, Greg advised: “Mate, you’ve got to think about shortening your run-up because you don’t want to be hitting the crease so hard you can’t control your back-foot landing position.”

Gillespie’s immediate reaction was typical of the breed: “Aw, but I want to be a fast bowler.” Eventually, Greg prevailed and, with a reduced run-up, Gillespie has become a more consistent fast bowler who these days is rarely injured. His reaction to Greg’s suggestion was not surprising when you consider that as a youngster his ambition was to be “a genuine fast bowler”.

When he attended the Academy and later that season broke into the South Australia side, reality and ambition were poles apart for the medium-fast Gillespie. However, he displayed qualities in the 1994-95 Sheffield Shield final that would stand him in good stead when his ambition and reality merged. While experienced batsmen Darren Lehmann and Jamie Siddons unwisely tried to cut fast deliveries from off their ear lobe and paid the price, Gillespie provided staunch support for wicketkeeper batsman Tim Nielsen. In helping produce a much-needed stand of 53, Gillespie contributed only 18 but he displayed a solid defence and a determination to put up a fight for his wicket.

This combination became his batting trademark early in his international career. Showing typical determination he has improved as a batsman by increasing his stroke range while retaining a solid defence. Nevertheless, the most dramatic change in Gillespie is the speed he generates now compared with when he was a young bowler.

When bowling in the 1994-95 Sheffield Shield final, he showed more nous with the ball than a senior player. Fast bowler Mark Harrity produced a display of nonsensical on-field behaviour that would make South Africans Andre Nel and Andrew Hall appear rational with a ball in their hand. It was a tribute to Gillespie that he kept his cool and his line and length and troubled the batsmen while his fuming teammate got clattered all round the park.

Not only does he now generate more pace as a bowler and bat aggressively, he has also come out of his shell as a person. The more outgoing Gillespie was on show at the Gabba last season where he displayed unbridled joy at attaining his first half-century in Test cricket just moments after the most unlikely event of being beaten to the punch by Glenn McGrath.

The change in Gillespie’s personality has been noticeable since he grew his abundant mane in a mullet style and this, plus his entertaining display at the Gabba, has dramatically altered his public perception. Soon after his hi-jinks at the Gabba he accompanied Australia’s Prime Minister in doing radio and television interviews during the 2005 tsunami match at the MCG. In the entertainment stakes, Gillespie was a length-of-the-straight winner as he cleverly utilised his dry sense of humour and understated approach.Although he plays first-class cricket for South Australia, Gillespie was born in Darlinghurst, an inner Sydney suburb. His roots are deeply implanted in the country of his birth as Jason is the first Australian player to publicly acknowledge his Aboriginal background. He is proud of his Kamilaroi tribe heritage and, in 2001, presented the inaugural Johnny Mullagh Cup. The cup is named after the most successful member of the first Australian side who toured UK in 1868 and is presented to the winner of the match between the [ATSIC] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Commission Chairman’s team and the Prime Minister's XI.

The Aboriginal community will tell you that there are a couple of high-profile Test cricketers who played their entire careers without the general public having any idea that these men had an Aboriginal heritage.

Nevertheless, Gillespie is still the only Australian Test player to acknowledge his Aboriginal background. His 2005 tour of England has started slowly, bordering on the disastrous and he almost looked overwhelmed in Bristol when Pietersen went on the rampage. Now would be the appropriate time for Ricky Ponting to suggest Gillespie concentrate on bowling at full pace and aggressively seek wickets, which is a sure-fire way to recapture his best form.

If in the next couple of weeks you see Gillespie doing an impersonation of ‘Crazy Jack’, it’ll be a good indication that full confidence is restored.