Legends of Cricket: Bettor.com’s World XI – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-Gilchrist-c918
There has not been another man in the history of cricket who was as entertaining a cricketer as this fine batsman and wicketkeeper. To say that he was a good keeper is to say that Michael Jordan was good with the basketball. This man was a ballistic opener
with the ability to unleash his fury on the ball and torture the opposition. His strike rates in both tests and ODI’s are phenomenal. The world of cricket has yet to see a batsman as aggressive as the great Gilchrist. Some might argue that he might not be
the most elegant of players and that he lacked the finesse that others had. Nonetheless, Gilchrist was to say the least a juggernaut who was simply unstoppable.
Behind the stump he had the safest pair of hands one could find, and there is not another keeper in the world who would be able to break his record of 888 dismissals in both forms of the game. He might have lacked Rodney Marsh’s acrobatic ability or the
finesse of Ian Healy but that having said, they lacked the batting skill that formed an incredible part of his game.
With the exception of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, he averaged more than 40 against all other sides of the world. His batting strike rate has been phenomenal throughout his career and he is perhaps the only wicket keeper to have enjoyed such success with the bat. Using a high
on handle technique with the bat, he flicked the good balls into the gaps and the rest of them were jettisoned through to the boundary. On his debut match he bludgeoned the opposition for 81 runs, took 5 catches and a successful stumping and from there onwards
the juggernaut was virtually unstoppable.
He performed for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 when it mattered the most, and his adversaries feared him on the cricketing arena. The bowlers would pray that Gilchrist would somehow magically disappear off the field so they would not have to bowl him, for when they did they
would witness their worst nightmares turning into a living reality.
No one could explain this better than http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Monty-Panesar-c2024 who was hit for three consecutive sixes and a four in his over, as Gilchrist stood on the threshold of challenging the record of the great Viv Richards coming threateningly close to breaking it during an
Ashes test match. His knock of 100 in 57 deliveries is perhaps the second fastest test century ever after the great Viv Richards, however his truly memorable knock came in the World Cup final against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 where he scored a brilliant 149 off just 104 deliveries.
With 13 fours and eight sixes he was Sri Lanka’s worst nightmare as he unleashed his fury with the bat.
Having taken a piece of advice from his batting coach he put a squash ball in his glove, which made him grip the bat tighter and allowed him to hit the ball straighter. He certainly did that, delivering a deafening blow to the opposition who stood mesmerized
by his performance. Adam Gilchrist brought smiles to the faces of his spectators and in the words of Peter Roebuck he has given “more outright joy to followers of the game than any cricketer since the great Sir Garfield Sobers.”
In his absence during a normal cricket match a thousand memories come to mind of this man, who assassinated his bowlers with swashbuckling strokes. Not to mention his sense of honesty and integrity on the field that earned him much criticism from his peers.
Gilchrist walked in semi final against Sri Lanka even though the umpire had declared him not out, however he decided to head back to the pavilion based on his better judgement. He was accused of starting a “walking crusade” in the words of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754
Captain, Stephen Fleming. Gilchrist has been awarded with the Allan Border medal and also chosen in Richie Benaud’s Greatest XI in 2004. He was also voted as the “Worlds Scariest Batsman”. In a poll on a website, he was voted as the 9th greatest
all-rounder of the last one hundred years. Therefore, we find Adam Gilchrist in Bettor.com’s Legends of cricket’s World XI for he has left his mark on history unlike any other wicketkeeper in the history of the sport.
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