My favourite player and arguably the greatest wicketkeeper/batsman ever to adorn the cricket field is all set to retire very soon. 

Gilchrist announces his retirement

Source: http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ausvind/content/current/story/333484.html

Peter English at the Adelaide Oval

January 26, 2008

	Adam Gilchrist has decided to end his Test career while he has the world record for most dismissals © Getty Images

Adam Gilchrist, who revolutionised the role of the wicketkeeper-batsman, has retired from Tests barely 24 hours after taking the world record for dismissals. The shock news means Gilchrist will depart on a global high at the end of the fourth match against India on Monday and his last ODI appearances will come in the CB Series, which finishes in March.

Over the past couple of years Gilchrist, 36, has been worn down by the grind of international touring and has been desperate to spend more time with his wife Mel and their three children. Despite his family circumstances, Gilchrist's announcement at the end of the third day came as a surprise after he had spent much of the previous evening denying he was close to walking away.

"I'll let people know when I'm going to retire," he said on Friday, "whether it's tomorrow or in 12 months. At the moment I'm going to keep focussing on giving everything I've got to this team."

He told his team-mates in the morning he was leaving and it was an emotional time. "I've come to this decision after much thought and discussion with those most important to me," Gilchrist said before boarding the team bus. "My family and I have been fortunate to have had an amazing journey full of rich experiences throughout my career."

Gilchrist played 96 Tests, the same number as Rod Marsh, and has collected 414 dismissals, currently one more than South Africa's Mark Boucher. However, his glovework, which has diminished over the past month, will not be why he is remembered as one of Australia's most significant players.

Matthew Hayden, who has been a team-mate of Gilchrist's for the past eight years, called it "massive news" and said he would be "deeply, deeply missed". "He is one of the greatest to have ever played the game," Hayden said. "He was incredibly positive and his flamboyant nature equals the greats of Viv Richards and other calypso characters over the years.

"He entertained everyone globally and has done it in a statesman-like way. He changed cricketers throughout the world and is a tremendous individual."

Gilchrist brought a limited-overs approach to Tests, becoming the first man to launch 100 sixes in the format, registering the most centuries by a wicketkeeper-batsman, and scoring at a phenomenal strike-rate in the low 80s. Apart from posting almost 6000 runs, he was also responsible for the more aggressive approach to a game where three runs an over was previously considered reckless.

Growing up in New South Wales, he moved to Western Australia to collect a first-class opportunity and made his Test debut to a chorus of boos after replacing Ian Healy in Brisbane. He scored 81 against Pakistan and brought up his first century in the following match in a miracle chase in Hobart. From 1999 the Australia team was never the same, winning 16 Tests in a row under Steve Waugh, a streak that was matched by Ricky Ponting's outfit over the past three years.

One of only three players to have won a trio of World Cup titles, Gilchrist was picked to open on a Waugh hunch over a bowl of ice-cream and quickly became one of the most threatening limited-overs players of all time. Others have tried to adopt his style but none has managed it for a decade, which is a tribute to the traits developed by a country boy from northern New South Wales.

"I am now ready and excited to move into the next phase of my life, which will include much more time with Mel, Harrison, Annie and Archie," Gilchrist said. He thanked his state and country associations and his team-mates for the "most enjoyable, fun career anyone could hope for". Brad Haddin, the New South Wales wicketkeeper, has spent the past couple of years with the limited-overs team and should get his first taste of Test action if the March tour to Pakistan goes ahead.

Two more wickets need to fall before Gilchrist will appear at Adelaide Oval and he will be celebrated like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer were last year. Adelaide has not been the normal place for farewells over the past decade, but Gilchrist has not been a traditional player.

Peter English is the Australasia editor of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

6 of Gilchrist best innings

	He says he didn't know it at the time, but Adam Gilchrist's 57-ball century against England in 2006-07 was the second-fastest in Test history © Getty Images

149* v Pakistan, Hobart, 1999-2000
It was one of the great comebacks after Australia fell to 5 for 126. They were chasing 369 for victory and the top order, boasting plenty of experience with the Waugh brothers, Michael Slater and Ricky Ponting, had failed. Gilchrist, on the other hand, was playing in only his second Test and he and Justin Langer combined for 238 in 59 overs to set up the win. His unbeaten 149 took just 163 deliveries, and featured 13 fours and a six. Steve Waugh later said he looked like he was playing in his own backyard. It was the first of many times that Gilchrist would turn a game on its head.

204* v South Africa, Johannesburg, 2001-02
An emotional man, Gilchrist cried on reaching one of many milestones in the innings after being the victim of a vicious internet rumour. He was brutal throughout the performance which at the time was the fastest double-century in Test history, his 204 coming from 213 balls. Eight sixes were thrashed, most over midwicket, as he showed his amazing power in a performance that would remain his highest.

122 v India, Mumbai, 2000-01
It was 99 for 5 when Gilchrist walked in. Only Matthew Hayden stood his ground in the hot cauldron as Harbhajan Singh ran amok. In a couple of hours he changed the face the game and the contest. Sweeping, cutting and lofting, he raced to an 84-ball century, the fastest by a visiting batsman on Indian soil. Even if he was playing his first Test in India, the foreign conditions didn't matter. He took risks, survived clear chances and half chances, but never retreated.

113 v Pakistan, Sydney, 2004-05
The scorecard shows Stuart MacGill as the Man of the Match and Ricky Ponting as the dominant batsman with 207, but it was Gilchrist's 109-ball century that really wrested the match away from Pakistan. It was his 13th Test hundred - he passed Andy Flower's record for a wicketkeeper-batsman - and featured scintillating striking towards the end. He brought up the milestone with a straight six off Shahid Afridi and had raced within reach thanks to consecutive sixes pulled off Mohammad Asif. For Yousuf Youhana and Shoaib Akhtar, who had also been part of the Pakistan team Gilchrist destroyed in Hobart five years earlier, there was a touch of déjà vu.

102* v England, Perth, 2006-07
Only Viv Richards has reached a century faster than the 57 balls it took Gilchrist on his home ground in the 2006-07 Ashes. On a boiling Perth day he sizzled, taking to Monty Panesar (24 runs in an over that started with a dot) and Matthew Hoggard in a stunning burst, which included 12 fours and four sixes. Had he known about the record he could have broken it, but no message came from the dressing room, and he was glad he didn't get there. "Viv deserves that mantle as the fastest hundred," he said.

149 v Sri Lanka, World Cup final, Bridgetown, 2006-07
It's one thing to blast runs in any old ODI, but only the best of the best save their finest moments for the biggest stage. Gilchrist's 149 in the World Cup final gave spectators reason to remember the match for pure cricketing brilliance, not its farcical finish in the dark. After morning drizzle made the fans nervously check their schedules for the reserve day, Gilchrist reminded them why they were there. He belted eight sixes in his 129-ball display, and for a while it seemed he could make 200 even in an innings reduced to 38 overs. He was so mesmerising that occasional boos came from the crowd when he gave the strike to Matthew Hayden. Squash ball or not, this was undoubtedly the pinnacle of a glittering ODI career.

bye bye Gilchrist. Have always been his fan even though I never supported Australia**.

 

** With every matches against India, i support Australia, otherwise I am anti-australia supporter in cricket.

The only player in the Aussie team that I truely liked!! He has been a true sportsman...changed the face of wicketkeeping and wicketkeeper batsmen!! He is a true legend and with his retirement I see yet another hole in the making in the Australian line up!!

Now Aussie dont have a spinner......well McGill can turn the ball but for how long......hes already in the mid-thirties and is plagued by injuries these days!!!! To add to that, Aussie dont have that hard hitting batsman, and the force behind the stumps as well!! Gilchrist might have dropped some shitters lately but he has been the most consistent keeper I ve seen in the last 10 yrs along with Mark Boucher of SA!! I just want one more retirement and that of the giant Haydos and we will have 5-6 teams competiting for the top spot in cricket probably for the first time in cricket history!!!!! Wont that be great for the sport???

But damn those Aussies will find some fitting replacements and my dream of having a competitive circuit will remain as a dream!!!

Praying for the Proteas to step one step up the ladder!!!

Anyways Congratulations to Gilchrist for the glittering career he has had and setting a bench mark for all the keepers to follow!!

 

Just watched his last test batting inning ...14 runs scored.

the respect shown by crowd and indian team was great...even though my team is s. africa.... gotta admit this guy is genious!

but hey his most catches in test record will be reclaimed soon by my boy mark boucher!

bye bye Gilly.....thanks for wonderful batting ... it was just watching.....i kinda wanted u to play 100 tests though (4 more)

peace

I am sure sone of the sub continental bowlers will take a long breath of happiness after Gillys retirement

Not a big fan of Aussie style of  cricket but definately, a fan of Gilchrits keeping. He has set the highest standard of Wicketkeeping and changed the pattern of opening the inning.

Honestly, there's no argument on who's the greatest ever wicketkeeper batsman...if only he'd gotten to play tests earlier ....damn!!!