Australia's Test captain Steve Waugh will shake any hint of complacency from the team on the forthcoming four-Test tour of the West Indies, wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist said on Monday.
Waugh was overlooked for Australia's recent World Cup triumph in southern Africa, where the side was led by Ricky Ponting, and he has spent the past two months leading New South Wales to the four-day championship and one-day domestic double.
"Test cricket, it's a new challenge and obviously a different captain in charge," Gilchrist said in an interview on Australian television as the Test squad prepared to fly out of Sydney for the Caribbean on Monday.
"That captain in Steve Waugh obviously doesn't take to being complacent very well. He'll be demanding the best from us.
"It's a big thrill for all of us to know that he's committed to play on," added Gilchrist, in a reference to the decision announced by 37-year-old Waugh earlier this month.
WORLD RECORD
Waugh equalled his former captain Allan Border's world record of 156 Test appearances when he led Australia in the fifth Ashes Test against England in Sydney in January.
The gritty right-hander made a century in the match to equal Don Bradman's national record of 29 hundreds. He also joined Border and India's Sunil Gavaskar as the only players to score 10,000 Test runs as Australia won the series 4-1.
Waugh said on Monday that motivation would not be a problem for the weary Australians because Test cricket is special.
"The accolades and glory will last for quite a while longer for the deserving members of the World Cup squad," said Waugh, who captained Australia to victory in the 1999 final against Pakistan.
"But they all know that their places in the Test team are closely contested and any sign of complacency will end in the results not being what they should be," Waugh added in a Herald Sun newspaper column on Monday.
"We are the benchmark for other teams to aspire to, due largely to a thing called professionalism which is what we all pride ourselves on."
Australia are ranked second to South Africa in the ICC's Test championship.
The squad of 14 will leave without batsman Damien Martyn, who is staying home in Perth for a week for treatment on his injured finger.
The first Test in Guyana starts on April 10.
