Going in first or seventh, wearing whites or coloureds, Adam Gilchrist has been the symbolic heart of Australia's steamrolling agenda and the most exhilarating cricketer of the modern age. He is simultaneously a cheerful throwback to more innocent times, a flap-eared country boy who has walked when given not out in a World Cup semi-final, and swatted his second ball for six while sitting on a Test pair. "Just hit the ball," is how he once described his philosophy on batting, and he seldom strays from it. Employing a high-on-the-handle grip, he pokes good balls into gaps and throttles most others, invariably with head straight, wrists soft and balance sublime. Only at the death does he jettison the textbook, whirling his bat like a hammer-thrower, caring only for the scoreboard and never his average. Still he manages to score at a tempo - 82 per 100 balls in Tests, 96 in one-dayers - that makes Viv Richards and Gilbert Jessop look like stick-in-the-muds.

When he signed a record A$2m sponsorship deal with Puma in 2004, few people questioned his value for money. Indeed it was arguably Gilchrist's belated Test arrival that turned the present Australian XI from powerful to overpowering. He bludgeoned 81 on debut, pouched five catches and a stumping, and has barely paused for breath since. Only in the last two years has his appetite slowed - he was troubled by Andrew Flintoff's around-the-wicket angle during 2005 and found the flaw difficult to overcome - and his match-turning 144 against Bangladesh in April 2006 was his first century in 16 Tests.

The 2006-07 Ashes series was literally hit and miss, with three single-figure scores, two fifties and his most brutal hundred. At home his one-day form was subdued, but the game's biggest competition - and it's most important match - brought out Gilchrist's highest standards. He stole the World Cup final from Sri Lanka with 149 off 104 balls, slamming 13 fours and eight sixes, and added to his 54 and 57 from his previous two global triumphs. Using a tip from his batting coach Bob Meuleman, he put a squash ball in his glove to allow him to hit straighter - the advice should have been patented instantly. After the high watermark, Gilchrist may wave goodbye to ODIs at the end of 2007-08.

In Tests, three Gilchrist innings rank among the most amazing by Australians: his death-defying unbeaten 149 against Pakistan at Hobart when all seemed lost, his savage and emotional 204 not out against South Africa at Johannesburg, and his 57-delivery Ashes century at Perth when he missed equalling Viv Richards' world mark by a ball. In one-dayers, his 172 is the third-highest score by an Australian and his overall number of career dismissals - he was at 439 after the World Cup - might take decades to top.

As Australia's 41st Test captain he found the extra burden tiring, and was happy for Ricky Ponting to step in once Steve Waugh retired. But as Ponting's fill-in he crossed the final frontier, leading Australia to their first series win in India for 35 years in 2004-05. As a wicketkeeper he lacks Rod Marsh's acrobatics and Ian Healy's finesse, and he probably peaked at 30 in 2002. But if he clutches few screamers he drops even fewer sitters and while his batting has started to lose its super powers his glovework remained solid. He became the leading gloveman in Test cricket when he overtook Mark Boucher against India in Adelaide during the 2007-08 series, then the following day announced his retirement from all cricket. The 2007-08 CB Series will be the final international engagements of a monumental career.
Cricinfo staff January 2008

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Aug 18, 2008 Adam Gilchrist with Michael Brown, Cricket Australia's general manager of cricket operations © Getty Images

Aug 18, 2008 Adam Gilchrist helps launch Cricket Australia's in2Cricket program for children aged five to ten © Getty Images

Mar 4, 2008 An official restrains Adam Gilchrist following an altercation with a cameraman © Getty Images

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