Adam Craig Gilchrist (Photo credit: Luton Anderson)
This is one of the most abused phrases I know of. It accompanies every death and every retirement. But from time to time it holds true to its meaning. Here it is used in the context of the Australian cricket team. With the retirement of Adam Gilchrist, Cricket Australia has lost its last gentleman, someone who knew the mean of the term, “cricket”.
In an age when honesty, decency and nicety is taking a hard beating, Gilchrist chose to be different. He did not find it necessary to resort to histrionics and one-upmanship to play his game. He just went about doing what he did best – decimate opposition bowling attacks.
What stuck me most about his batting was the calm before the storm. Although he can be compared to any of the big hitters in the history of the game, he walked in with no promises. There was no Richards-like swagger, or the visible body power of a Hayden. But once unleashed he was unstoppable.
But like Warne said in his column, “Gilly will be (and should be) remembered more for the way he chose to play the game rather than the records he set (while he went about playing his game)”.
While many chose to wait for the umpire’s decision after they snicked the ball to the keeper, Gilly chose to walk. Not surprisingly he lives his life in the same way, he chose to walk rather than wait for the finger to go up.
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