Portal:Australia/Featured article/Week 13, 2007
Adam Gilchrist (born 14 November 1971 in Bellingen, New South Wales), nicknamed Gilly or Church. He made his first-class debut in 1992, going on to make his first One-day International appearance in 1996 and his Test debut in 1999. He has been Australia's vice-captain in both forms of the game since 2000, captaining the team when regular captains Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting were unavailable. Gilchrist is an aggressive left-handed batsman and effective wicket-keeper, combining the two roles for the Australian national team and is considered to be one of the best wicket-keeper-batsmen in the history of the game. His strike rate is amongst the highest in the history of both One-day and Test cricket and he currently holds the record for the second fastest century in Test match cricket. Gilchrist is also noted for having been reprimanded for outbursts on the pitch a number of times during his playing career, including being fined significant portions of his match fee. He is also renowned for walking when he considers himself to be out, sometimes even contrary to the decision of the umpire. During his career, he has played for Australia in 90 Test matches and over 250 One-day internationals and will represent his country for a third successive ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies.