Gilchrist named as Cowdrey Lecturer

Adam Gilchrist will become the ninth MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecturer when he speaks to an audience of over 1000 in the MCC Indoor Cricket School at Lord's on Wednesday, June 24.

Following in the footsteps of his compatriot Richie Benaud, as well as other greats from the sport and beyond - such as Sunil Gavaskar, Clive Lloyd and Archbishop Desmond Tutu - Gilchrist will become the youngest man to deliver the lecture. Of the former international cricketers to speak, he is one of the most successful, having won 73 of the 96 Tests he played and standing second on the all-time Tests dismissals list with 416 catches and stumpings.

"Few players - past or present - encapsulate the Spirit of Cricket better than Adam Gilchrist," said Derek Underwood, MCC's president. "We are therefore delighted that Adam will deliver this year's Cowdrey Lecture.

"He always looked like he was having great fun when he played - from the way he'd slay bowlers to the boundary to his joyous celebrations when he took a catch or made a stumping. Though fiercely competitive, he epitomised the very essence of MCC's Spirit of Cricket message by playing hard but fair.

"In an Ashes year, and coming on the back of the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in England, he is a most appropriate speaker. Only a recent international retiree, we look forward to hearing his in-depth views on the modern game."

As well as being phenomenally successful, Gilchrist developed a reputation of playing very fair - a reputation which was enhanced when he walked after being given not out in the 2003 World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka. Australia went on to win the match, and Gilchrist subsequently became the only man to score at least a half-century in three World Cup finals. Along with Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath, Gilchrist is one of only three players to have won the World Cup three times.

The MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture was inaugurated in 2001 in memory of the late Lord Cowdrey of Tonbridge, a past President of MCC, who - together with another former Club President, Ted Dexter - was instrumental in the Spirit of Cricket being included as the Preamble to the 2000 Code of the Laws of Cricket.