[1] A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler,[2] he had played for the Ireland cricket team 116 times up to the start of the 2007 World Cup,[3] including twelve first-class matches[4] and 35 List A matches,[5] four of which were One Day International.
[8] He played just twice for Ireland in 1996,[3] a Benson & Hedges Cup match against Gloucestershire in May[5] and his first-class debut against Scotland in August.
[4] Gillespie was named in the Ireland squad for the 1997 ICC Trophy and played in nine matches.
That year, he played against the MCC, Bangladesh,[3] a NatWest Trophy match against Warwickshire,[5] South Africa (twice) and Australia[4] in addition to the Triple Crown[11] and the European Championship.
[13] The 21st century started for Peter Gillespie with a trip to Zimbabwe to play in the ICC Emerging Nations tournament,[14] highlighted by an innings of 74 against Denmark.
[3] 2003 was a busy year, with matches against Zimbabwe, South Africa, the MCC, the Free Foresters and Hertfordshire, amongst others.
[4] He was named in Ireland's squad for Division One of the World Cricket League in January/February 2007,[28] but he only played in the match against Kenya.