Gilchrist walks into corporate world

It's amazing what a sporting gesture can do these days. There aren't many, but Adam Gilchrist's decision to walk against Sri Lanka in the World Cup semi-final has opened doors for a place in the corporate world.

It was announced today that Gilchrist has joined Travelex, the foreign-exchange company, as a non-executive director. Travelex already sponsor Gilchrist and the Australian team, but they said they chose him for this position after he walked despite being given not out.

Lloyd Dorfman, the company chairman, said Gilchrist showed strong ethics in a high-pressure situation: "Here you've got a guy who is prepared to walk himself out in the critical moment in the semi-final of a World Cup tournament, and in terms of integrity I don't think you can do much better than that."

Gilchrist's appointment is believed to be the first of its kind, and he was suitably shocked at the news. He said, "My reaction was, 'What have I got to offer?' When I walked in that game I certainly didn't think it would lead to something like this."

"I'm no expert on foreign exchange or the corporate world," added Gilchrist. "What he has in mind is bringing in someone with a totally open mind, open eyes, fresh ideas, sitting in a boardroom asking the simple and obvious questions, the dumb questions that the experts might overlook."

Gilchrist surprised even his team-mates when he gave himself out in the match at Port Elizabeth last March. On 22 at the time, he tried to sweep Aravinda de Silva and was caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara. The Sri Lankans appealed, but umpire Rudi Koertzen turned them down, only for Gilchrist to head back to the dressing-room anyway. After the game, de Silva hailed Gilchrist as a gentleman, saying "It is very rare to see batsmen walking off. There are still some gentlemen in the game."