The Return of the King

Cuts, pulls, drives to long-on and long-off, sixes over midwicket, and more importantly, runs off Freddie signalled his return to form. Who are we talking about ? One of the most destructive batsmen in the history of the game, probably the best wicket-keeper batsman ever, and , recently, Freddie’s bunny. Yup, its Adam Gilchrist.
In this Ashes series, as in the tour of India before (the one in 2000-01), we saw what happens when Gilly does not score runs. Australia struggle. They rely so much on him to dig them out of a hole. He often makes the difference between a score of 400 and a score of 550. And, sometime back, cricinfo had run a story which says, if anything, he is more destructive when the top order struggles :). No wonder Aussies did so badly in the Ashes. Top order AND Gilly struggled.
Anyway, the next Ashes is going to be fun to watch. Its only about 18 months away, and in Australia, so there is going to be very very little reverese swing. Warnie and Co. would be eager to get the Ashes back. I am waiting to see Freddie and co. being tonked around the park.
Katich seems to like opening the innings. And it does suit his game as well, gives him time to settle. Tough to see Hayden coming back to the one day side. Thanks Matty for those good innings.
One more observation. The new Shane on the block, Watson, seems to have done a good job in both one-dayers. Signs of his growing up ?