Gilchrist praises his fellow wicketkeepers

Adam Gilchrist has been thoroughly impressed by the outstanding glovework of his peers at the World Cup and named Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, who Australia will line up against on Monday, as one of the best. "At the World Cup, the wicketkeeping has been of the highest quality," Gilchrist told Sky Sports.

"We have seen a lot of the keepers having to stand up to the medium pacers and they have done it to an exceptionally high level - Brendon McCullum, Paul Nixon and Kumar Sangakkara, he has been outstanding. He made 69 against New Zealand, so he's back in form with the blade. We all look at each other and try to improve and maintain our level."

Although players like Nixon are hardly in the same class as Gilchrist with the bat, their efforts behind the stumps remained their primary role, Gilchrist said. "If you ask all the wicketkeepers, they would say that they like to think they are picked on their glovework," he said.

"I never say, well I just got a hundred, job well done. I have to go out there and train hard, catch the ball to stay as sharp as possible. Form with the bat can fluctuate as can form with the gloves. The guys are here as their number one keepers but they have developed a side of their game, which is batting, and that has to be at an acceptable level."

Should Australia continue their winning streak and take home a third successive World Cup, Gilchrist will sit alongside Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath as the only members of all three triumphant sides. However, Gilchrist indicated he would probably resist the temptation to end his career on such a high.

"It's a case of year by year for me," he said. "We had a lot of big retirements this summer and I'm getting towards that part of my career. There's no doubt that it's getting closer but there's still a bit more to achieve."