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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry L" data-source="post: 18539762" data-attributes="member: 260809">1. Adam Gilchrist (Aus) <img src="http://www.cricket.com.au/news/feature/top-100-test-players-21st-century-warne-gilchrist-mcgrath-tendulkar-kallis-sangakkara-ponting-murali/%7E/media/519CACC605154DF3B3D3995430C81CFA.ashx" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 91 matches, 397 dismissals (362 c, 35 st); 5,130 runs at 46.63 Cricket is very much a numbers-based game but in the case of Adam  Craig Gilchrist, records and statistics don’t go close to telling the  breadth and depth of the legend. Seldom can a sport have had a genuine  pioneer arrive on the scene more than a century after its creation. Such  was the case with Gilchrist and Test cricket; in a little under a  decade, he changed the entire nature of a position, as well as the  parameters of what was possible – or even the norm – in terms of scoring  rates. He’s had imitators since, and even capable contemporaries, but  no sight has been more frightening for opposition captains than that of  Gilchrist striding to the crease at five wickets down, whether there  were 50 or 450 runs on the board. A free-swinging left-hander who Richie  Benaud labelled the cleanest hitter of a cricket ball he’d ever seen,  Gilchrist’s best form of defence was always attack, and he had a whole  kitbag of shots at his disposal to take down bowlers of both pace and  spin. His ability to change a match in such a short space of time was  unparalleled among batsmen – let alone keeper-batsmen – while his  influence for Australia transformed a great Test match team into perhaps  the finest of all time. An athletic and reliable wicketkeeper whose  world-record breaking deeds with the gloves will forever be overshadowed  by his breathtaking batting, Gilchrist was, more than anything, a  winner.  Best Performance: There’s a catalogue of classic to  choose from. From the 57-ball Ashes ton to what was briefly the  fastest-ever double century, Gilchrist hundreds were always a sight to  behold. He specialised in turning crisis situations into match-winning  ones, rescuing Australia repeatedly throughout the 2000s. But the best  of Gilchrist may just have been when he took the captaincy from an  injured Ricky Ponting in India 2004, scored a century that set up  victory in the first Test, and then made a second-innings 49 from No.3  in the next match that helped Australia escape with a draw. The man  himself rates the latter his most important innings – and who are we to  argue?</blockquote>

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