The right time to exit

Adam Gilchrist's timing when deciding to walk has always been well calculated. He had already made his name as an Errol Flynn-style swashbuckler when he left the 2003 World Cup semi-final without waiting for the umpire to rule on his nick. The stance became his trademark. He always knew when he edged and as he prepared for the third day against India he was certain he was ready to step down.

The past month has been tough for Gilchrist, whose concentration could no longer sustain full days in the field and caused easy catches to be spilled. A man of the highest standards does not need to be told his powers are waning and Gilchrist went before the occasional lapses could blur his spectacular name.

Cheerful and good-natured, except when dealing with criticism, he can be classed with Keith Miller as the country's greatest allrounder - the criteria didn't include wicketkeepers until he arrived in 1999 as a 28-year-old. He will leave with the greatest number of dismissals in the world, his 17 Test centuries are the most by a wicketkeeper-batsman and his big hitting became the prototype for the new breed of batsman, although the clones have not been able to sustain the output.

Milestones were always accepted with an "aww, gee, how lucky am I" type of shrug. He insisted the marks were never the goal, but after signaling his intention to bow out a day after reaching a world-record 414 dismissals it showed how much some numbers mean. Having assumed the international gloves from Ian Healy, a more traditional and technical keeper, Gilchrist was always trying to prove his skills were up with those of his revered predecessors.

One of his few regrets will be that the quality of his hands was debated during the first half of his final Test. He was precious about his glovework - he yelled at the TV in the dressing room as recently as day two when the Nine commentators were talking about him - and was always fighting for recognition. Mastering Shane Warne for eight years must surely count as one of the greatest achievements for a man with rooms full of them. But no matter how good he was, his keeping could never match his batting, which was as out of this world as some of his 243 international sixes.

Towards the end of his childhood training sessions with his father Stan he would try to blast balls into orbit. He became so proficient that the strokes could not be classed as flukes even though they retained an agriculture air. The ability was eventually transferred to the international arena following a cross-country route and he won a promotion ahead of Healy, whose 395 dismissals he passed at the start of the India series.

The jeers on his Brisbane debut quickly became cheers as he dominated attacks and wooed the public with his fresh looks and down-to-earth outlook for 96 Tests. At 36 his life after cricket is about to start. He has been a wonderful player who has changed the game, but it is starting to move on and he has shown impeccable judgment again.