Adam Gilchrist has no regrets after earning an unfortunate place in Australian cricket history.
Will Swanton20-Aug-2001Adam Gilchrist has no regrets after earning an unfortunate place in Australian cricket history.In only his second Test as captain, Gilchrist became the first Australian skipper ever to lose a Test match after declaring and setting the opposition a target.It’s a surprising statistic – confirmed by Australian Cricket Board statistician Ross Dundas – and it took the innings of a lifetime from Mark Butcher to bring it about.Butcher stroked a chanceless 173 not out – the same score Sir Donald Bradman made at Headingley in 1948 when Australia made 3-404 to beat England.Rain had robbed the match of 117 overs, forcing Gilchrist to end the Australian innings ahead of schedule in pursuit of its goal of a clean sweep in the five-match series.He set England 315 to win off 110 overs, and England duly achieved it with six wickets in hand to revive memories of the famous Botham Test success at the same ground 20 years ago.Gilchrist’s declaration was in keeping with regular skipper Steve Waugh’s philosophy of backing his bowlers and he said he would make the same decision again.”We were a bit shy but we didn’t know the wicket was going to play that well and that someone was going to play the innings of his life,” Gilchrist said.”It was a really enjoyable experience, I’ve got to say, to captain the team in a Test that was fairly close, getting into the last hour of the last day.”It meant a lot to me to be captain and it hurt a great deal to lose but I have no regrets.”England made its second biggest final innings chase in history – trailing only the 7-332 from Percy Chapman’s side which beat Australia at the MCG in 1928-29.And Gilchrist likened Butcher’s innings off 227 balls to the 281-run knock from VVS Laxman in Calcutta which turned the second Test and the series for India earlier this year.Butcher struck 23 fours and a six and belted the last 12 balls he faced from Jason Gillespie for 29 runs – five fours, a six, a two and a one.The Australian bowlers, so potent all summer, showed signs of wilting under the final-day onslaught as Brett Lee returned 0-65 off 16 overs, Gillespie 2-94, Glenn McGrath 1-61 and Shane Warne 1-58.”Seeing that innings, the Laxman innings comes to mind,” said Gilchrist.”When he got his hundred I’ve never seen so many of our guys go in and congratulate a guy at once.”It was a tremendous innings. This guy was really taking it up to us and good on him – everyone felt that.”It’s probably one of the great Ashes knocks … given that he wasn’t meant to be playing at the start of the series and he got in by injury.”Gilchrist was roundly criticised after a tour game against Essex last month when he told his batsmen to play out the final day in order to get match practice before the first Test.The Australians were booed at the end of that game and Gilchrist was visibly unsettled.”I won’t be going into my shell and be bitten by the declaration bug,” he said.”I’ll look at today and think of Essex where I didn’t declare for whatever reasons and was told I showed contempt for the spectators and members of the press and cricket in general.”You’ve got to weigh up all these points of view but I’m comfortable with what I did.”The bowlers tried their all – they’ve been outstanding all tour and today they weren’t far off the mark and one guy (Butcher) was so far ahead of the mark.”I’m pretty happy with it all.”Gilchrist, who said injured captain Steve Waugh told him to go with his gut instincts throughout the game, was pleased that his tactics had helped provide such an entertaining spectacle.”There were 15,000 people out there soaking the game up,” he said.”That’s a very positive thing for the game.”I’m proud of my team, that we were all prepared to take that on … no-one complained when I declared.”We knew there was a risk of defeat and that’s the risk we take.”Hussain admitted England had been outplayed through most of the match and only Gilchrist’s willingness to pursue victory gave his side a chance.”I’ve got the utmost respect for this team,” he said.”Steve Waugh, I think he went out there and clapped Mark Butcher.”They give you a hard time and they get stuck into you but as I’ve always said, if you show them you can play, they come up to you at the end of the day and shake your hand and say ‘well done, son, we’ll be back at you at The Oval.'”Hussain was relieved that England had finally shown some heart.”Obviously Australia had their own motives, they wanted to beat us five-nil and get their winning streak back going again,” he said.”All credit to them, they’re playing cricket the right way and in exactly the right manner – positive batting, positive bowling, positive declarations.”But today we played cricket like we should. That was a special day’s cricket.”Today was the day we’ve been waiting for all summer … if you don’t dream, you don’t believe.”Now it’s on to The Oval for the fifth Test at The Oval starting on Thursday.England has its tail up and Australia hasn’t won at The Oval since 1972.
