WC Countdown #8 - A different ball game for Adam Gilchrist

Tom Freston, former CEO of MTV, put a spin on what he considered innovation. He said, "Innovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way". In 2007, a cricket glove and squash ball, two things that had been in existence for quite a while, were put together and 149 hugely significant runs were born of their union.

By his standards, Adam Gilchrist had had a quiet World Cup in 2007, especially in comparison to his opening partner Matthew Hayden. As Australia swept away one opposition after another, the wait for a Gilchrist special increased. Then one fine day, it was the World Cup final. Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt. Not for that Australian team. They played World Cup finals for fun and won.

Standing up to Australia in Barbados were Sri Lanka, only the second side to have previously beaten them in a World Cup final. The scene was set and the spectators were served an instant classic. Adam Gilchrist strutted out and 'squashed' the Sri Lankan attack into submission. He scored a typically brutal 149, the highest score in a World Cup final helping Australia win their fourth title. There was, however, a brief moment after he had gotten to his century that stayed etched in memory. After getting to the three-figure mark, Gilchrist waved and repeatedly pointed towards his left glove, a rather strange celebration for a century in a World Cup final. Or so, one thought.

At the post-match conference, Gilchrist explained the method behind his manic batting and his celebration. He said he'd slipped in a squash ball inside his left glove so that his bottom hand wouldn't be too dominant. He credited this idea to little known Bob Meuleman, his batting coach, who had suggested using a foreign object inside his glove to improve his grip. Gilchrist's revelation instantly sparked heated debates about the legality of the act. A few days later, an MCC official confirmed, "It is no different to wearing inners under your gloves". And that was that.

Adam Gilchrist had scored 14 ODI hundreds before that game against Sri Lanka, none of them half as significant as his fifteenth. The occasion was special, the occasion was important and Gilchrist had a ball.