Bungled message prompted Gilchrist blitz by Cricketarchive Staff Reporter

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Player:

AC Gilchrist, MJ Clarke, MJ Hoggard, MS Panesar

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DateLine: 20th December 2006

 

Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist revealed a bungled communication with the dressing room was the catalyst for his extraordinary batting blitzkrieg against England at the WACA ground at Perth Saturday. On the third day of the third Ashes Test, Gilchrist smashed the second-fastest century in Test cricket history, reaching three figures in 57 balls. Only West Indian great Viv Richards's 56-ball effort was faster, with Gilchrist taking just 17 balls to race from his half-century to his hundred. Speaking at the end of the day's play, Gilchrist said he and batting partner Michael Clarke had incorrectly thought the instruction had come from the dressing room to chase quick runs to enable a declaration late in the day. "After I got my 50 we threw the question back to the rooms. Did we want to try and have a look at them tonight if we could press on?" he said. "We took it as a yes. Apparently it was a no. At our boot camp, communication skills was one of our topics and we obviously didn't pass that one, but it worked out well." Gilchrist, whose batting form in the past two Ashes series against England has been indifferent, reached his half-century in 40 balls and in doing so equaled the Ashes record. He then went berserk, hitting four sixes from the next six balls he faced as Richards's 20-year record suddenly entered the equation. The left-hander hit three sixes and a four in four balls from spinner Monty Panesar, who duly went into the record books for the most expensive Ashes over (24 runs). Gilchrist was denied the record by England seamer Matthew Hoggard and said he had no idea he was so close. "I've never known what the fastest Test century was," he said. "I would have guessed Viv Richards was somewhere in the mix - it's a shame I didn't tickle that wide one from Hoggard, it would have been good. I think Viv deserves that mantle." Gilchrist said he decided to go after Panesar as he was hitting with the breeze at his back. "I didn't walk out there with anything other than survival, setting up an innings and keep supporting Pup (Clarke)," he said. ``When Panesar came on at that end, there was a decent breeze and I made the decision to attack him." Clarke said the innings was awesome to watch. "It was get a single and let him go," he said. "Every ball he hit in the middle of the bat and it was great to watch."