Gilchrist: the best of the best

Every Thursday, Wisden Cricinfo's writers in Australia and New Zealand supply the Antipodean view on cricket. Here Lynn McConnell gives the evidence why Adam Gilchrist is the best wicketkeeper-batsman to have graced the game

India have been the latest opponents to find out - although they probably already knew it given the 1038 runs they have conceded to him in 25 one-day internationals - that they are in the presence of the most genuine cricketing talent when playing against Adam Gilchrist.

It can now be said that he is the finest batsman-wicketkeeper to have graced the game. A big call? Perhaps, but the facts speak for themselves.

There may have been more graceful executioners behind the stumps, there may have been more agile performers, although it is hard to see how, and there may have been better wicketkeepers to spinners. However, the fact of the matter is, there has not been such a complete package to equal the qualities which Gilchrist brings to the game.

Given the representation of Australian wicketkeepers, he has had some outstanding performers to emulate. Most recently the man he replaced, Ian Healy, and before that Rod Marsh - a player just as competitive but without the Gilchrist flourishes. You can go down through the list of time and talk of players like Wally Grout, Barry Jarman, Brian Taber, Don Tallon and Bert Oldfield, but in the long run, Gilchrist heads them all.

It is the same on the world stage. Alec Stewart may rank behind Healy and Marsh as the third-most successful `keeper in terms of dismissals, but he isn't even in the hunt. Jeffrey Dujon and Derek Murray from the West Indies, Alan Knott and Godfrey Evans from England, Wasim Bari, Rashid Latif and Moin Khan of Pakistan, Adam Parore and Ian Smith of New Zealand, Syed Kirmani and Kiran More of India, Mark Boucher, John Waite and Dave Richardson of South Africa and Andy Flower of Zimbabwe are all pale in comparison.

The only player who gets anywhere near Gilchrist's Test batting average of 60.25 is Flower, at 51.54. Among the top 10 career dismissals, Gilchrist is at the moment in 10th place, having played in only 47 matches. The lowest number of Tests of those ahead of him is Boucher's 67, yet he has scored 586 runs fewer.

Gilchrist has already scored nine Test centuries, and the only wicketkeepers who have scored more are Stewart with 15 and Flower 12. Stewart scored many of his when not combining the two roles, and because of the fragile nature of the Zimbabwe side, Flower had many opportunities. Gilchrist has had to make his mark batting at No. 6 or 7 in a strong Australian line-up. The facts don't lie - Gilchrist is the greatest.

And that's even before adding the one-day factor to the equation. He's already on top of the poll there with 65 dismissal with only Flower ahead of him in runs scored.

What adds strength to Gilchrist's qualities is that he would make the side as a batsman alone. Few players are capable of dismembering an opposition attack in the manner that he can. He held the world record for the fastest double century, until it was beaten by Nathan Astle's extraordinary innings in Christchurch for New Zealand against England last year.

But it is his consistency which is his finest asset. Day in, day out, no-one can ever discount him and that is the mark of a great player. The fact he walked against Sri Lanka in the World Cup doesn't really come into the picture - if he hadn't he would still have been an outstanding player. To the cricket purist, however, that is just another factor in his appeal.

Here is someone in touch with the game and its spirit. Australia might have all the acknowledgements to the role of their history in the game, but spirit is just an important factor.

Such is the quality of Gilchrist's play it can only be wondered what changes will be made in the record books by the time he has finished. One thing is for certain, his future will never be as anonymous as his most recent Test century, scored in Matthew Hayden's formidable shadow in Perth against Zimbabwe last month.

In the meantime, fans around the world might as well strap themselves in and enjoy the ride. With Gilchrist at the helm there will never be a dull moment. Achiever, entertainer, standard-setter, you couldn't ask for anything more.