MELBOURNE, Feb 20: Most of Australia’s cricketers did not want to tour New Zealand for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, according to the vice-captain Adam Gilchrist.

Gilchrist, who was resting while his team-mates lost the series 0-3, said the side did not need the three-match contest and freshening up at home would have been a better exercise.

"I'm going to be brutally honest here and say I don't think too many people wanted it on at all,” Gilchrist said. "We've had a very hectic summer. We had a brilliant summer in Test cricket, but then we fell away in the ODI series, and that was very disappointing."

Gilchrist added the administrators had a difficult job trying to fit in the games and the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) was keen for the contest. "But if you had to be really specific about the Australian team, we probably didn't need this series at the moment," he stated.

"It would have been nice to have that little bit of time for everyone to be at home freshening up and getting ready for the World Cup.” –Agencies