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Of fluctuating fortunes, fragile friendships and the worst of media
This is a photo of Adam Gilchrist after scoring a Test ton. Doesn't look like much of a celebration and, in his own words, this was the first time he cried on a cricket field. But why? There's a story.
Of fluctuating fortunes, fragile friendships and the worst of media
This is a photo of Adam Gilchrist after scoring a Test ton. Doesn't look like much of a celebration and, in his own words, this was the first time he cried on a cricket field. But why? There's a story.
In the early 90s, when Gilchrist was starting out, there was another boy, just two years older than Gilly, who seemed way ahead of everyone in the competition. That boy was Michael Slater, the audacity of whose cricket left many bewildered and turned Gilchrist into a fan.
While to others, Slater seemed extraordinarily gifted, cricket for the boy was one good thing that had come out of his childhood, where he was bullied at school and raised by his father after his mother left him, the pain of which affected Slater the student quite a lot.
But cricket kept him thriving. Not that there was no dip in fortunes there - an accident in his late teenage years left him with ankylosing spondylitis at the age of 20, something that he didn't reveal until his retirement. But he was still good to make his Australia debut at 23.
Of course, we know that for Gilchrist, the road to the Baggy Green wasn't that easy thanks to the presence of Ian Healy and it was only in 1999 when he could finally make his Test debut at the age of 28. But soon after his debut, a friendship developed between him and Slater.
They had already known each other for a long time as both hailed from Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. The seeds of this friendship had already been sown after Gilchrist started spending time with the side as part of the ODI setup in the previous years.
Gilchrist found Slater much like his elder brother Glenn and he and his partner would spend a lot of time with Slater and his partner, who was his childhood sweet-heart, further strengthening this friendship.
But things were to take a turn for worse soon.
But things were to take a turn for worse soon.
Although Gilly had to wait for his chance, once he became a part of the team, his game skyrocketed. In 2000, after just 9 Tests, he was chosen as Steve Waugh's deputy, over Warne and Ponting. Slater at this point was almost a decade into his career with more than 60 Tests.
Slater's career hadn't blossomed the way many had predicted. His natural attacking game didn't earn him a fan in his coach Geoff Marsh and he was asked to curb his instincts. A dry run of form saw Slater getting the axe from Tests despite him averaging in the late 40s.
When Slater was back in the side, things on the personal front had hit rock-bottom for him as his marriage was falling apart. And it had begun to reflect in his on-field demeanor too. The outburst on Dravid in the Mumbai Test was a sign of things being not too well with Slater.
To make it worse, the runs dried up too and the visits to the nightclubs became more frequent. Slater's media gigs too had become an irritant by this point for Captain Waugh.
In the 2001 Ashes, Waugh's injury led to Slater's close friend Gilly taking over captaincy in a match.
In the 2001 Ashes, Waugh's injury led to Slater's close friend Gilly taking over captaincy in a match.
Before the match, when the team was leaving for practice, Slater didn't arrive on time for the bus, leading to the team bus leaving without him. This was also a time when he had asked his partner to come over to England to sort things out but things didn't go as planned.
Slater didn't like being made an example of by someone who had just assumed captaincy and confronted Gilchrist, who he felt had let him down as a friend. Things got ugly. According to Gilchrist, Slater said to him, "Donโt you ever, ever forget where
you come from.
you come from.
Donโt forget your roots. Just because youโve got this position now, donโt go forgetting where you come from." The 4th match would prove to be the last Slater would play for Australia as upon his return in the final Test of the series, Captain Waugh would go on to drop him.
Having struggled to arrest the slide on personal front, now Slater had also lost his spot in the Test side, which he would later blame on Steve Waugh trying to play God. The series of events during the 2001 Ashes also sounded the death knell on his friendship with Gilchrist.
The story should have possibly ended there.
But a few months later when Australia were touring South Africa, a website decided to use the now in tatters friendship of two previously close friends as fodder for their disgusting imaginations and peddled a rumor that spread fast.
But a few months later when Australia were touring South Africa, a website decided to use the now in tatters friendship of two previously close friends as fodder for their disgusting imaginations and peddled a rumor that spread fast.
The rumor suggested that the father of the first child of Gilchrist and his partner was his teammate Slater.
When Gilchrist came across this news piece, he felt sick in his stomach. He felt sorry that his wife was subjected to this as a result of him being a public figure.
When Gilchrist came across this news piece, he felt sick in his stomach. He felt sorry that his wife was subjected to this as a result of him being a public figure.
Moreover, the couple, who had just started their tryst with parenthood a couple of months ago, didn't have the smoothest of rides as the kid was in intensive care for two days after being born. And just when those initial fears were subsiding, this story came out.
Gilchrist credits the South African media for not even touching it in the build up to the first Test.
But when the match began at the Wanderers, there was no escaping it. The home team fans had come out with banners targeting Gilchrist where it hurt. Some of them were evicted.
But when the match began at the Wanderers, there was no escaping it. The home team fans had come out with banners targeting Gilchrist where it hurt. Some of them were evicted.
But when the time came for Gilchrist to walk out to bat, he had to walk down a tunnel where people on both sides got in his ear about the matter. Gilchrist was furious. He writes in his autobiography, "I walked onto the field thinking, โItโs not just two guys with a banner,
everyone in South Africa knows about it.โ
The knock that followed was played in pure anger. Anger towards the website that had floated that baseless rumor. Anger towards the people who had decided to pick on him over a sensitive issue. And anger towards himself for putting his
The knock that followed was played in pure anger. Anger towards the website that had floated that baseless rumor. Anger towards the people who had decided to pick on him over a sensitive issue. And anger towards himself for putting his
wife and his 2 month old boy through this, who might not have had to go through this if he wasn't a public figure.
While the crowds went chanting, 'Slater, Slater' to rile him up, nobody from the South African team stepped on that line. Gilchrist finished the day on 25 not out.
While the crowds went chanting, 'Slater, Slater' to rile him up, nobody from the South African team stepped on that line. Gilchrist finished the day on 25 not out.
The next morning, in the absence of Allan Donald, the South African bowling attack was hit all around the park by the left-hander. He remembers reaching the century in his autobiography, "I remember raising my bat to acknowledge my teammates, then stumbling off towards the side
of the centre wicket and going down into a crouch. All I could see in my mind was Harry and Mel. All I
could feel, deep in my heart, was the pain of longing to be with them, holding and comforting them both. By focusing on making a century, and wanting it as
something to
could feel, deep in my heart, was the pain of longing to be with them, holding and comforting them both. By focusing on making a century, and wanting it as
something to
dedicate to my wife and new son, I had been able to shut out the hurt and anger. Yet upon scoring the ton and reaching my goal, I immediately realised how much my love for the game, as great as it was, had become an avenue towards a far greater love,
that which I had for my family. I know I have talked about different times when the Gilchrist waterworks have been turned on, but this was the first time I cried on a cricket field.โ
Gilchrist went on to turn this century into a double hundred
Gilchrist went on to turn this century into a double hundred
and ended up breaking Ian Bothamโs record for the fastest double hundred, which had stood for two decades, in the process. Australia went on to register their biggest ever victory in Tests, brushing aside the South Africans by an innings and 360 runs.
To get back at the jeering crowds, the Australian team set on fire their complimentary tickets for the redundant days four and five when celebrating the victory. Gilchrist was soon joined by his wife and kid on the tour.
Later, the couple sued the website who quickly paid them a settlement. As for his friendship with Slater, who could never make a comeback again into the side, he did get a chance to have a word with him after a year and Slater said that he had put the 2001 Ashes episode behind.
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