Gilly will be missed

"Adam Gilchrist is one of the greatest entertainers ever to grace a cricket ground anywhere in the world. You know when he enters the ground to bat you are about to see a show. Even when he gets out early it is usually doing something flashy. The cricket world will be poorer for his retirement but it has been richer for having been able to witness his awesome skill with both bat and gloves"

-- was what the much acclaimed cricket writer Peter Roebuck had to say about Gilchrist,the best wicket-keeper batsman.The gentleman cricketer has announced his retirement from the international cricket in all forms of the game after the end of the forthcoming CB series.

Wicket-keepers were traditionally, players who could score a workmanlike 30-40 odd runs apart from their prime duty.But all this changed with the entry of a player who has not only changed the way cricketing teams around the world looked at their wicket-keeper batsmen,but his debut has brought a whole new breed of cricketers who apart from keeping the wickets could also contribute handsomely with the bat.Adam Gilchrist has revolutionized the cricket as no other player had in the recent past.

He is a swash-buckling and flamboyant batsman apart from being a very able keeper .Though he was jeered and booed on the debut for replacing the great Ian Healy, with his nimble glove work behind the wickets and some very crucial innings that had turned the matches on its head he had turned them to applause and admiration.He is certainly the best wicket-keeper batsmen.The very fact that people now talk of wicket-keeper batsman and not about wicket-keepers as was before Gilly entered the international arena speaks volumes about impact this great player had on cricket.

He was very much instrumental in Australia's reign at the top since the last decade as he made it look as if Aussies were playing with 12 men all the time with Gilly the batsman/the keeper making up for that extra player.His flamboyant and aggressive batting meant that Aussies scored fast and put the opposition on the back foot.He attacked with such flair that it demoralized the opposition, and is the best example for the theory that "Attack is the best Defense".

He is one of the three players to be a part of the team that won the last three world cups and he did his bit in securing the win with fine half centuries in the 1999 and 2003 finals and golf ball-handedly turning the match in 2007 final with a fine century.He is the only wicket keeper all rounder, performing incredibly both with the bat and gloves and would easily find a place in the pantheon of the great all rounders.

CB series would be the last time we can get a glimpse of those swashbuckling shots or those acrobatic takes behind the wickets which could turn the tide of the match, but as correctly said his departure would make the cricketing world poorer but it has already been enriched by his batting and glove work.