Former Australian captain Mark Taylor and legendary keeper Ian Healy have given their thumbs up to Adam Gilchrist’s decision to retire from test cricket, effective at the conclusion of the Adelaide Test between Australia and India.
The sudden announcement has shocked the cricket world, with Gilchrist previously giving no indication of his plans. It is thought a recent barrage of criticism about his performances with the gloves may have led to the snap decision, although Taylor believes Gilchrist would have been considering calling it quits for some time.
“He’s obviously been thinking about this, not just in the last 24 hours,” Taylor told Channel Nine. “This has probably been going on for a couple of weeks, maybe even a month.”
“You go through that tough time, and you think ‘am I prepared to get the glove work back to where it was?’ And he’s probably said to himself ‘no, probably not’.
“So he’s probably made a very smart decision in that regard.”
Gilchrist endured a poor test with the gloves in Sydney, missing three chances, while his simple dropped catch against VVS Laxman on day one in Adelaide set tongues wagging again.
Healy, who was unceremoniously removed from the test team in favour of Gilchrist in 1999, suggests the brutal schedule for the Australian team would have been a major factor in the retirement of the 36 year old.
“It’s a tough year coming up. A possible Pakistan tour, which is hard as a keeper. West Indies following that, then India before he gets back to Australia,” Healy told Channel Nine.
“Obviously he decided ‘I can’t do it, I haven’t got the energy’. It caved in on him.”
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