Timeline:
October 1996 - Makes his ODI debut at the age of 24. Scores 18 batting at No. 7 and grabs two catches in the loss to South Africa in Faridabad.
April 1997 - Replaces the struggling captain Mark Taylor as a specialist batsman during the ODI tour of South Africa. Shows the first glimpse at international level of his batting potential, striking 77 from 88 balls in Durban.
January 1998 - Is promoted by Steve Waugh to open the batting in the one-day team, and in just his second match in the new role strikes 100 from 104 deliveries to guide
Australia to a comfortable win over South Africa at the SCG.
February 1999 - Cracks 154 from 129 deliveries in an ODI against Sri Lanka in Melbourne. It was at the time the highest score by an Australian in a one-day international.
November 1999 - Makes his Test debut at the Gabba, the home ground of his predecessor Ian Healy. Wins over the crowd with 81 from 88 balls, as well as five catches and a stumping. His first dismissal is Mohammad Wasim, caught off Damien Fleming.
November 1999 - In only his second Test he is part of one of the most remarkable come-from-behind Test victories. At Bellerive Oval, Australia fall to 5 for 126 chasing 369 to beat
Pakistan, when Gilchrist and Justin Langer combine for a 238-run stand to win the match. Gilchrist`s contribution is 149 not out from 163 balls.
April 2000 - Collects five dismissals in a Test innings for the first time, then follows with another five in the second innings. His ten catches against New Zealand in Hamilton make him one of only three men - and the only Australian - to pouch at least ten chances in a Test.
December 2000 - Is handed the captaincy in just his 12th Test after Steve Waugh is ruled out through injury. Leads Australia to a five-wicket win against West Indies in Adelaide.
February 2001 - Turns another match on its head with Australia at 5 for 99 against
India in Mumbai. Gilchrist`s 122 from 112 balls - the second fifty took 29 deliveries - helps set up a ten-wicket win.
August 2001 - Stumps Darren Gough off
Shane Warne at the Oval to register his 100th Test dismissal, in his 22nd match.
February 2002 - Posts his highest Test score as Australia maul South Africa by an innings and 360 runs in Johannesburg. Gilchrist`s unbeaten 204 comes at almost a run a ball and features eight sixes, and Wisden says: `Gilchrist was playing with them like a cat keeping a half-dead mouse alive for entertainment`. Belts another century in Cape Town and finishes the series with 473 runs at 157.66.
October 2003 - Becomes the third Australian wicketkeeper to reach 200 Test dismissals. Achieves the milestone by catching Tatenda Taibu off Brad Hogg at the SCG.
January 2004 - Hammers 172 from 126 balls against Zimbabwe in a one-dayer at Bellerive Oval. It remains his highest ODI score.
March 2004 - Helps Australia recover from what appears a losing position to beat Sri Lanka in Kandy. Bats at No. 3 in the second innings - Australia made 120 in their first - and puts on a 200 partnership with Damien Martyn. Gilchrist makes 144 and Australia win by 27 runs.
October 2004 - Captains Australia to their first series win in India for 35 years, guiding them through their first three Tests as they take an unassailable 2-0 lead.
January 2005 - Belts Pakistan into oblivion once again, hammering a century from 109 balls in Sydney. Gilchrist brings up the milestone with a straight six off Shahid Afridi and finishes with 113.
February 2005 - Creates the only wicket that Glenn McGrath ever wanted to disown, by stumping Craig McMillan while standing up to the stumps to McGrath in an ODI in Wellington. It was the first stumping off McGrath in any senior match, and it came from a delivery timed at 136kph.
March 2005 - Hammers 162 from 146 balls against New Zealand in Wellington. It is his third century in consecutive innings, making him the first Australian batsman since Don Bradman in 1947-48 to achieve the feat.
July-September 2005 - Australia lose the Ashes in England and Gilchrist has a poor tour, with only 19 victims from the five Tests. He later singles out the Old Trafford Test as the lowest point. He drops Michael Vaughan on 41 - he went on to make 166 - and misses two simple stumping chances off Shane Warne.
August 2005 - Collects his 300th Test dismissal when he catches Ian Bell off Shaun Tait at Trent Bridge.
October 2005 - Makes a mockery of the ICC World XI with 103 from 79 balls at Melbourne`s Docklands Stadium. Achieves the feat against an attack boasting
Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Flintoff and Shoaib Akhtar. Gilchrist is eventually dismissed by Virender Sehwag.
April 2006 - Saves Australia from potential embarrassment against Bangladesh in Fatullah. After Bangladesh make 427, Australia stumble to 6 for 93. Gilchrist combines with the bowlers beautifully, and manages 144 to get his team back in the match. The bowlers and Ricky Ponting secure the win.
November 2006 - Passes Rod Marsh`s mark of 355 Test victims when he catches Paul Collingwood off Stuart Clark in the opening Ashes Test at the Gabba.
December 2006 - Destroys England with the second-fastest Test century in history, taking 57 balls and falling one delivery short of Viv Richards` record. On a boiling Perth day he sizzled, taking to Monty Panesar (24 runs in an over that started with a dot) and Matthew Hoggard in a stunning burst, which included 12 fours and four sixes.
January 2007 - Equals his personal best of five dismissals in an innings. Finishes the Test against England at the SCG with nine victims as he helps secure Australia`s Ashes whitewash.
April 2007 - 149 v Sri Lanka, World Cup final, Bridgetown, 2006-07
It`s one thing to blast runs in any old ODI, but only the best of the best save their finest moments for the biggest stage. In a breathtaking innings of clean hitting and bravado, strikes 149 from 104 deliveries in the World Cup final as Australia beat Sri Lanka in Bridgetown. Is named Man of the Match and later reveals part of his success was due to using a squash ball inside his glove.
November 2007 - Becomes the first man to strike 100 sixes in Test cricket, when he slog-sweeps Muttiah Muralitharan out of Bellerive Oval. The ball disappears and after numerous pleas for its return it is tracked down to Melbourne and given back to Gilchrist.
December 2007 - Takes a regulation outside edge from Wasim Jaffer off Brett Lee to register his 396th Test victim. The catch at the MCG moves him past Ian Healy to become Australia`s leading wicketkeeper in terms of dismissals.
January 2008 - Becomes the second wicketkeeper to reach 400 Test dismissals when he catches MS Dhoni off Brett Lee in Sydney.
January 25, 2008 - Takes a regulation outside edge to remove Anil Kumble off Mitchell Johnson`s bowling in Adelaide. The catch takes Gilchrist to 414 Test victims and he passes Mark Boucher to become the world-record holder for most wicketkeeping dismissals. He achieves the milestone in his 96th Test.
January 26, 2008 - Announces his retirement from all forms of cricket, effective from the end of the CB Series.
Quotes:
John Buchanan, former Australia coach
He called me at the end of the third day`s play to tell him about his decision. He didn`t need to do that but I certainly appreciated his gesture. The decision did surprise me but it was his personal one. He was a close friend and I admired him as a person, as a cricketer and as a father.
His contribution to Australian and world cricket was incredible. He set benchmarks for wicketkeeper-batsmen and in general to cricketers. He could change games with a drop of hat in any form of the game. His character as a person, his contribution to the captain and the team culture even exceeded his contributions on the field. Possibly his loss is more than even Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. What delighted me about Adam Gilchrist was his sense of balance as a player in sport played at the highest level.
Mark Boucher, South Africa wicketkeeper and former world record holder
The night before I had sent him a text message after he went past me on the list, saying, `congratulations on an incredible career, long may it continue`,` he told the Sun-Herald. `I really thought he could go on for another three or four years. There have probably been better wicketkeepers in the game, but he revolutionised the game in terms of being a wicketkeeper-batsman. Gilly is streets ahead of the rest in that regard.
He is the guy who set the tone for everyone else in the game, and he has changed it forever. Before he came into the game, it was okay for a keeper to be averageing between 20 and 25 if he was doing a good job with the gloves. But Gilly came in and set new standards for all of us to follow. Everyone would like to be like Adam Gilchrist, and turn games around by smashing the ball to all parts of the ground.
Matthew Hayden, Australia team-mate
It`s massive news and it`s surprising news. From my point of view I feel incredibly privileged to have played with Adam for as long as I have. He`s been a remarkable Australian, he`s held the baggy green in his hand with great pride and passion, great discipline, great work ethic.
[He has been] a fantastic leader and had an ability to be able to change the game and that has made Adam one of the greatest players who has ever played the game. He`ll be deeply, deeply missed ... greatness is what we`ve aspired to be in the Australian cricket team, and he`s fulfilled everything that has been asked of him by all of his captains and as captain himself throughout that wonderful series in India [in 2004], where we won the series 2-1.
He has played with remarkable skill, he has entertained and done so in a statesmanlike way, bonding cricketers throughout the world and changing them with how he has played the game.
28 Jan 2008 18:40:49 GMT