Biography of Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist born on 14 November 1971 in Bellingen, New South Wales, nicknamed Gilly or Church, is a former Australian international cricketer. He is an aggressive left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national team through his aggressive batting. He is considered to be one of the greatest wicket-keeper-batsmen in the history of the game.
He holds the world record for the most dismissals by a wicket keeper in One Day International cricket and the most by an Australian in Test cricket. His strike rate is amongst the highest in the history of both One-day and Test cricket and he currently holds the record for the second fastest century in Test cricket. He is the only player to have hit 100 sixes in Test cricket. His 17 Test and 16 ODI centuries are the most by a wicket-keeper. He holds the unique record of scoring at least 50 runs in successive World Cup finals (in 1999, 2003 and 2007) and is one of only three players to have won three titles.
Gilchrist is renowned for walking when he considers himself to be out, sometimes contrary to the decision of the umpire. He made his first-class debut in 1992, his first One-Day International appearance in 1996 in India and his Test debut in 1999. During his career, he played for Australia in 96 Test matches and over 270 One-day internationals.
He and his family lived in Dorrigo, Junee and then Deniliquin where, playing for his school, Deniliquin South Public School, he won the Brian Taber Shield (named after New South Wales cricketer Brian Taber). At the age of 13, his parents, Stan and June, moved the family to Lismore where Gilchrist captained the Kadina High School cricket team.
He is married to his high school sweetheart Melinda Gilchrist, a dietitian, and they have two sons, Harrison and Archie, and a daughter, Annie Jean. Gilchrist’s personal life became newsworthy early in 2007, as his youngest child was due to be born around the scheduled start of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, and this threatened Gilchrist’s presence in the early stages of the tournament in March. Archie’s early arrival (in February) meant that Gilchrist was able to declare himself available for the whole competition.
On 26 January 2008 during the Fourth and final Test of the 2007-08 series against India, Gilchrist announced that he would retire from international cricket at the end of the season. A back injury kept Ricky Ponting off the field for sections of the Indian’s second innings, resulting in Gilchrist captaining the team for the part of final two days of his Test cricket career.
Gilchrist was contracted by the Hyderabad-based Deccan Chargers in the inaugural season’s player auction for US$700,000. In Deccan’s fourth match of the inaugural 2008 season, Gilchrist hammered the fastest hundred in the IPL, off just 42 balls, as Deccan recorded their first win, against Mumbai.