Gilly's big move

Steve Rixon, the former Australian wicketkeeper, remembers the early 1990s well. He was coaching the New South Wales side in the 1992-93 season when Adam Gilchrist made his first-class debut. He was forced to play as a specialist batsman because Phil Emery had the wicketkeeping slot. The side won the Sheffield Shield but Gilchrist struggled to keep his place in the side, playing only three first-class matches in the following season. In 1994 Gilchrist decided to shift across the country, moving to Western Australia.

"Phil Emery was a better keeper at that time," remembers Rixon. "So I picked Adam as a batsman. He didn’t succeed as a plain batsman but that’s life. The best thing that happened to him is that he went to Western Australia. And everyone wanted him to succeed. For me it's not about New South Wales, Western Australia or Queensland. The purpose in life is not just to win Sheffield Shield but to get best players for Australia."

It wasn't easy for Gilchrist. He had to replace Tim Zoehrer, the incumbent, and start all over again. "When Gilly went there it was very hard," says Rixon. "There was a guy called Tim Zoehrer who was already keeping for them. But it didn’t take long for the Western Australia boys to see that this package was a better package than the one sitting in the backyard. I don’t think at that stage, Timmy was going to go much further forward. I don’t think there was really that big a difficulty over the decision. Gilly was knocking the living daylights out of bowlers, and has an appealing factor about him.

Did he regret letting Gilchrist go? "I’ve never had a problem with him. I really like the guy. He had to leave where his family was from but he’s made a new life." And does he think Gilchrist is the best keeper in the country? "When Ian Healy, Rod Marsh and Gilchrist started, they weren’t the best keepers. But the selectors saw something in them that made them a complete package. Right now Gilly is probably not as good a keeper as Brad Haddin. But the overall package he offers means he deserves to be there. I’m not downgrading him one little bit. He’s not in the best keeping form but he is likely to come out and do something extraordinary."