WHEN big Jason Gillespie was pounding the turf on the Adelaide third-grade cricket circuit four years ago, opponents disparaged his grandiose ambitions and cuttingly labelled him ``that dinky little medium pacer''.

Gillespie, then close on 18, had a vastly differing opinion of his ability. By the end of that 1992-93 Australian summer he was betting his team-mates $1,000 (£470) that he would be wearing the famous baggy green cap before he was 23.

Anyone who took up that wager would be considerably lighter in the pocket now. Hard work, a rigorous training routine and a willingness to listen to his coaches has already, in Mark Waugh's view, put him close to the world's five quickest fast bowlers. That after a Test career amounting to six months and seven games.

In the Ashes media tour guide Gillespie is described as ``languid''. That would hardly be the view from the South African top order who were destroyed by the South Australian's devastating pace, steepling bounce and what his colleagues refer to as ``jag-back'' in the Port Elizabeth Test in March.

On a green top Gillespie had a major influence on the match with overall figures of eight for 103, and seven were recognised batsmen. My notes of his dismissals are littered with references to ``rising ball under armpit'' and ``stumps flattened by inswinger''.

Some Test tyros might be moved to flights of fancy after being at the epicentre of such momentous events. But not this man; almost self-deprecatingly his only remark was: ``I had a gale behind me and the wicket helped a lot.''

That is the way Gillespie likes to play when it comes to the personal limelight. Now 22, he is just ``very, very shy'' a team-mate said.

Too right, mate. When I went in search of this 6ft 4.5in gangling mountain - earring in each lobe, goatee beard - he was affability itself until the talk turned in on himself.

I eventually got a monosyllabic statement - the kind a lawyer might make with a client on Death Row: ``I'm here to play cricket and take a lot of wickets. And that's all I'm saying.'' Even the Australian management were apologetic. ``We're working on him, but it's not easy,'' said coach Geoff Marsh.

On the field there is a look of ferocity on a face which, as David Hookes the former South Australian captain says, ``only a mother could love''.

But there is another side to his character, one who on tour desperately misses his daughters Star and Sapphire. When South Australia wanted to show off Gillespie after he had been picked to tour England, he had gone off to the circus with his children.

The club were concerned that fatherhood at such an early age might impede his career. His girlfriend Jackie was initially lukewarm towards the prospect of being a cricketing ``widow'' but has been told that she can join Gillespie at some point on this tour.

He was born in Sydney, and at the age of 10 contracted a rare virus which paralysed him from the waist down. His father, Neil, feared the boy might never walk again, but after treatment Gillespie made almost an overnight recovery and not long after the family moved to South Australia.

He was playing for Adelaide thirds at a moment when Jeff Hammond, the former Test player who had taken over as South Australia's coach, was scouring for talent. They were struggling at the foot of the Sheffield Shield table and Hammond was mindful that the side had not produced an international-class fast bowler for about 20 years. He saw raw potential in Gillespie, despite his gawkiness and a run-up which almost tied his body in two.

He made his debut against the touring Zimbabweans in 1995, and took four wickets, and that year went to the Cricket Academy, coming under Dennis Lillee's tutelage. Lillee thinks his protg could be heading for 200 Test wickets: Gillespie - given to goals - says it will be nearer 300.

In his third State game, he was thrown in at the deep end in the Shield final as Queensland took the title for the first time with a marathon three-day innings of 664. Still Gillespie could take some encouragement from his figures of three for 112.

A year later he was South Australia's principal strike bowler with 51 wickets as the Shield came to Adelaide for the first time in 14 years. He made his Test debut against the West Indies at the end of November last year.

The pony-tail Gillespie wore when he played against England A last November has disappeared but his taste for heavy metal music survives. He is known as ``Dizzy'' - and someone had to explain that the other Gillespie was a famous jazz musician.

Gillespie once recalled the ribbings from colleagues because he was always making predictions about his future. ``Nobody believed I could even make the first grade then.'' There must be a few red faces today among the journeymen on the ovals of Adelaide.