Dear Gilly,

I read a while ago that you said --

There used to be a bloke who gave himself out by walking when he'd hit the ball. The popularity of that within his team-mates may be shown by the fact that since his retirement, they no longer reply to any emails, phone calls or text messages.

-- and I want you to know that we miss you.

We miss your batting, your keeping, your sportsmanship, your enthusiasm.

People I know who don't even like cricket miss you.

I wouldn't be surprised if our enemies miss you, in a masochistic sort of way.

God knows the team misses you, though not as evidently as Warne or McGrath.

I know there's no going back and that's how it should be. But damn it was better with you.

Adam Gilchrist is still my hero

When I first heard that Adam Gilchrist had been dishing dirt out on the Indians in his new book, my first thought was 'noooo Gilly, don't stir it up'.

But then I thought about it some more.

When Matt Hayden called Harbhajan Singh an obnoxious weed, I said that it was inappropriate for him to make any such comment while he was still playing for Australia.

Adam Gilchrist doesn't play for Australia anymore, quite obviously. And the fact that he didn't make these comments before now again reiterates his character, because I can imagine it was very tempting at times.

I've never had a problem with Sachin Tendulkar, on the contrary I admire him as much as the next person. I also, however, believe Gilly is a man of great integrity, and I don't for one second think he would make things up.

Adam Gilchrist is as about as vindictive as the dolphins at the WA Aquarium that were poisoned a few years ago. And while it re-opens a big can of worms that probably didn't need to be re-opened, why shouldn't he give his side of the story?

After all, everyone else did, just at the wrong time and with all the tact of Prince Philip.

Shoosh y'all, Gilly speaks

There was a picture of Gilly in today's West Australian (look, I have to read it for work. I don't enjoy it).

Gilly thinks Twenty20 cricket should be introduced to the Olympics in, er, 2020.

"Cricket was part of the 1900 Olympics, when Great Britain beat France," he said.

Was that the last time Great Britain beat France at anything? Probably because they got to utilise the services of Irish, Scottish, Welsh players.

"I believe the Olympic Games is the vehicle the sport should use to aggressively sell the message of our sport to all 202 competing Olympic nations, so our sport is strong and robust in countries where it is currently played, and exciting and groundbreaking in countries who haven't yet caught the cricket bug."

I'm up for that, I'm sure Warney would still be an option, bring it on! Our lads can add Olympic gold medals to their mantles... they'll just have to nudge a little space between the urn and the world cup, plenty of room.

More from the realm of recent happenings

I thought it was hilarious that last night on the news, when Beau Casson was being interviewed (and there was the little caption under on the bottom of the screen"Beau Casson - Australian spinner") and someone asked him how he felt when he got the phone call, he said...

"Spun out."

He's a comedian!

And closet case Michael Clarke was named vice captain, yesterday or the day before or whenever it was. It's amazing to watch this young man jump on his team mates. Here he is, doing just that.
"Hey Lara!"

Given the chance I would do the same thing to Ricky Ponting... in a second, but... you know. Stop it Pup, you're embarrassing yourself.

The selections for this tour have been rather interesting because of who's been excluded. The absence of truck monkey has been pondered elsewhere in the country tonight. It's nice that someone remembers truck monkey. I assumed he was living in a hippie commune somewhere in the proximity of Byron Bay. I'm not sure why, but he could be.

Personally, I'm pretty pleased that our boy Shaun has been picked. He thanked the WA Cricket folk for suspending him after below par behaviour last year, and he said it was a wake up call. How many people would admit that?! What a champ. I know of a swimmer and an Olympic committee who could learn something from this situation.

Don't worry Theo, your time will come.

Anyway, it gets me thinking about who of the current international alumni may have offspring who will be successful cricketers. Probably not Justin Langer.

But more importantly, will Archie Gilchrist make the winning runs in the Ashes test that means we retain them for 26 years running? And will Corey Flintoff, the captain who was destined to work magic, shed tears for the Ashes that were always miles from his reach?

Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist will be watching from somewhere I can't afford, sharing a beer (hopefully not the same one) and reminiscing. And somewhere across the field, Andrew and Rachael will be sitting (not together, no no that ended years ago) watching their boy's soul crumble like bits of wet cake. Andrew will feel guilty because, if it wasn't for him, Corey wouldn't have been under quite so much pressure and wouldn't be enduring this soul destroying moment.

But as he watches, Australia's captain (the youngest in a good long while too) Preston Lee jogs up to Corey and puts his arm around him, and although Andrew's brain may now resemble soup from years of too much alcohol, a memory stirs...
...and he glances across a few rows at his former wife, who understands, and smiles.

Is this the future? Only time will tell, but it's fun to speculate.

Hello bandwagon, I'm here.

Ok everyone has an opinion and I am no exception.

1. I agree with Matthew Hayden, but
2. He was out of line. He was
3. Punished accordingly and accepted it. (Novel idea, huh?)
4. What he said was not a racial slur, however
5. He should have waited until he retired to say it, or
6. Just left out the "obnoxious little weed" bit, because
7. Otherwise his point was valid. He was damn right about Harbhajan's record speaking for itself, and
8. Apparently Harbhajan has the worst record of any cricketer, ever.
Sigh. Roll on Sunday.

On a happier note, my second-favourite-Aussie-but-not-for-much-longer submitted his gloves for inspection because he was concerned they were illegal, because his gloves are made by the same company that make Dhoni's gloves. What a star. That's why...

Twenty20 fun on the hallowed turf

I do love it when we win. I'm so proud to be Australian, for more reasons than just cricket, but cricket is one reason.

Imagine being at the MCG with that crowd! I went to a football game there last year and was in awe of the atmosphere, and it wasn't even my team playing. To have been there tonight, to see us demolish the Indians, and give Gilly a send-off, would have been something else. I didn't see any back-turning, although I doubt it would have been aired if it happened. But from what I saw the crowd seemed well behaved. And no cheerleaders (that I could see), praise the lord.

India played terribly and it was very disappointing. However, I would like to mention Virender Sehwag, who chatted to the commentary team, ala Gilchrist and Symonds. I think it's great that this happens, it's fun and adds a significant dimension of camaraderie for the television audience. Although, they were talking to Gilly just before he got out, so it could be very distracting, but it's his choice to do it. Anyway, when we played England, none of their players talked and it was quite disappointing (especially as Twenty20 is their creation). Balance is a good thing, and it makes things more interesting too. But not only did Sehwag join in, he said really nice things about Adam Gilchrist, and talked about his team's poor performance, and I imagine that must be quite a difficult thing to do when you're out in the middle of it all. Hurrah for Sehwag.

I also wonder why the other teams don't have their nicknames on the back of their shirts. I think it's good, although I did have a memory lapse trying to remember who Catfish is. A bit disappointing that David Hussey didn't get a bat, but he still did well. (Loved Mark Nicholas' comment "One of the Hussey boys is human! And it's... Michael!") Kudos to Adam Voges and Mr Wolf Blass, Brad Hodge, who is creeping up on my list of favourites.

A solid performance from Clarke and his boys. (First time I've said that. Feels funny). I know it's only Twenty20, but after the events of the last few weeks, especially the circus that was the appeal hearing, the best way to exact vengeance is by performing well, and we have done just that. You're only as good as your last game, and considering India are the Twenty20 world champions, I am quite impressed with our effort tonight.

Finally, on Sunday night I thought I'd look into getting tickets for the Aust/Sri Lanka ODI in Perth, and logged on and there were tickets available. When I went to work on Monday it said there were none left! Horrified at my poor timing, I rang TicketMaster and they said more might be released and to keep an eye out. Although he did say if it happened it would be closer to the day, at about 3:30 that afternoon I had an inkling, and logged on, and there were some available. It was my lucky day. I'm going to the game!

EDIT: My best mate Ruth has pointed out to me that Michael Vaughan actually did speak to the commentators during an Australia/England Twenty20. My mistake.

Gilly's going

Adam Gilchrist has just announced his retirement from test cricket. I'm astonished, to be honest. I know over the last few days he has dropped a couple and not scored much, and the criticism has been dished out, but I've always thought of Gilly as an incredible fighter, who invariably comes back and proves himself. But he's 36, and I suppose maybe he just can't be arsed anymore. He called the bluff of the critics. Plus it'll mean he won't be playing tag with Mark Boucher to outdo each other for the record.

I hope the next two days of this game are fabulous for him. I really hope we win now, the boys have tremendous incentive to give him the send-off he deserves. And more than anything, I hope he doesn't think he's not retiring at the top of his game, because he's a champion, and we all love him.

The next question is, who will replace him? As a WA girl, I vote Luke Ronchi... Brad who?

EDIT: He's retiring from all forms of cricket. I'm heartbroken!