Church bids adieu at "The City of Churches"

January 28, 2008.

“Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness. And they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy... or they become legend.”

It was a warm summer morning at this picturesque city in South Australian Province. Few people remember it as the fifth largest populated city down under. And few others name it as "The City of Churches". This was the city which has enjoyed great religious freedom from its past. The coast-line is not too far away with the Gulf St.Vincent at its east and covered by the Mount Lofty Ranges, on the west, which rise somewhere about 700 metre.

Some 1.1 million denizens of this city had been busy since 6 in the morning, with many of them getting ready to start off a new fresh week on a positive note at their offices, colleges, banks and shops.

And there were a very few lucky people, quite exiguous of them, who chose to do something different than sticking to their routine, atleast on this final day. They never knew that this moment would arrive so soon, but they had grudgingly accepted that precise bit of sheer truth. And they knew that this day won't be arriving later than that momentous Monday.

The seats at the Oval were filling fast, and there was an air blend of excitement, sorrow and disappointment among the 33597 strong audience who had given their everything to be present at the venue. They were a very lucky bunch of people I tell you. Very lucky.

The spectators had not come here wishing to see the fifth day of a dull test match, nor had they come here to see their nation win. Instead, they had shelled out their extra bit of hard-earned penny to see something which none of the other 3 tests before this had witnessed. Some of them even took pains of waking up at the wee hours of 3 A.M and queue up to take their best places at this historic venue which was to witness a historical event. The Adelaide Oval has been home to all the budding South Australian cricketers and sportsmen since the year the time-line read a number 1871. A scoreboard set up on November 3, 1911, is still intact and is considered a treat for those who have a penchant for antique things, though many consider is antiquated. The first ever One Day International, the BodyLine peak war and Rahul Dravid's single-handed test victory are some of the most important eye-catchers of the Adelaide dossier.

All the on-lookers' eyes were set on a tiny man wearing thick gloves and entering the field with a bunch of fellow Australians and team-mates. This was the man who was the cynosure of all those who recognized and appreciated the spirit of a player who plays with his heads high, commitment true and a passion for his job. His team-mates affectionately called him 'Church' for he had the name of Lord Jesus in him. I guess that's the most obvious reason, but reasons apart, this man is clearly, in no way, less than the Lord Himself, for he's been blessed with something very few in the universe have been.

It was for this reason that Cricket Australia allowed him to play 96 tests for their country, wearing the proud Baggy Green. But then, he made his debut at the age of 24, much late than what he should have actually done. And after that, he made amends for all the lost time and came up with a defining character which left everyone dazed.

The man under our observation is a gem of a person called Adam Craig Gilchrist. To say that he is the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world is just stating the well known fact, but just in case for any unlucky ignorants and un-informatives out there.

Starting with, he made a meek first class debut for New South Wales in 1992 and a silent debut ODI appearance in 1996. The world then was at the feet of Sanath Jayasuriya, a dashing (to say the least) batsman. But here was a man of less words and a more dangerous bat. The stage was set and the arrival was yet to be announced.

He was his nation's 129th ODI cap and made his debut against South Africa at Faridabad, 25th October 1996. And many blokes never knew what this man had been all about but it wasn't that something burst out all of a sudden. The approach here was to see-learn-try up-falter-stand up-learn-understand-believe-defend-drive-pull-punch-thrash-cut-loft-dominate-demoralize of a kind. Noble bowlers found it difficult as the man grew and started fulminating in full throttle. Their Road To Perdition was growing more clear and the cut of the wrists gradually wore an intimidating stare. And off came the bowlers, off their spells, coming out crying and turning agnostic in their hopes to keep this man silent, let alone getting his coveted wicket.

Shaun Pollock, Shoaib Akhtar, Chaminda Vaas, Heath Streak, Merve Dillon, Azhar Mahmood, Venkatesh Prasad, Muttiah Muralitharan, Daryll Tuffey and many more.. All got whacked all over the park, with Gilchrist having a strange penchant to drive Shoaib Akhtar in particular, out of the attack and his minds and clean up his antics.

This was just the ODI scene. But there was lot to follow on the white-attire-circuit. Having made his debut at the Wooloon Gabba, Brisbane, in November 1999, against Pakistan, he belied a general Australian spectator's thought that Ian Healy was the better wicket-keeper for the longer version of the game. Pat came the reply, Church had scored a quick-fire 81 to lead Australia to a comfortable win. In his next test, the very second, he piled on the agony of the hapless Pakistani bowlers and scored an unbeaten 149 to guide his team to yet another victory, this time, a series winning one. And if at all, there was any thought of Healy being the better of the two, it was effaced at will. Here was the batsman who had an intention to stay and stay long. He was not here to be compared with someone and being judged on that.

And what happened after that is a big, eventful odyssey, filled with pleasure, excitement and drive. Any Australian would dream to bat like him, if possible.

But today was a different day altogether. Church had just surpassed the world record of 414 Test dismissals and knew that he would call it a day soon. But that was not something that the cricketing world anticipated, not so soon atleast. The decision came as a rude shock to his team-mates and colleagues and peers apart. He had the privilege of captaining his country for the last time of his international career, on the final day. That sounds so ironical. He took his 379th and the last catch of his exceptional test career, off Virender Sehwag. India batted out the entire day of the match, leaving Gilchrist unable to lead Australia in the second innings of the match. John Buchanan, the former Australian coach, states that Gilchrist's retirement had more impact than the retirements of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd asked Gilchrist to reconsider his decision but the Legend of West Australia revealed that he choose to retire after dropping VVS Laxman during the test matches against India, and realizing that he had lost his "competitive edge".

The visitors had made a long, crying walk back to their homes। Cricket can sometimes get very cruel, callous and heartless. We miss you Gilly. A great test match had come to an end but more importantly, a great test career had come to an end. It was hard to accept the harsh fact that the "Church" had closed it doors at "The City of Churchs".