Cricket World Cup: Adam Gilchrist is the best one-day keeper-batsman ever, says Matt Prior

A game changer.

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That’s how Matt Prior classes Adam Gilchrist, the man he believes to be the finest one-day wicketkeeper-batsman in cricketing history.

Gilchrist marmalised bowlers in the 50-over arena between 1996 and 2008, smashing 16 centuries and 55 fifties in his 287 matches, primarily from the top of the order.

The left-hander’s most important knock was probably his solitary World Cup ton, which he scored in the 2007 final in Bridgetown, Barbados as Australia beat Sri Lanka to lift the trophy.

Fans in attendance had to be extra vigilant with Gilchrist plundering eight sixes, as well as 13 fours, en route to a pulsating 149 as the Baggy Greens won the tournament for the third time in a row.

The swashbuckling Australian also chipped in during his nation’s previous two World Cup successes – collecting fifties in both the 1999 and 2003 finals – and Prior reckons Gilchrist’s pyrotechnics as an opener in ODIs means he has no equal as a keeper-batsman in that format.

Anyone who has had that much influence in changing a sport goes down as a complete and utter legend as far as I’m concerned.

“Gilchrist just pips Kumar Sangakkara, for me,” said wicketkeeper Prior, who figured in the 2011 World Cup for England. “He singlehandedly changed the way wicketkeeper-batsmen are viewed and how they have to perform.

“He was the first keeper to open the batting and score match-winning hundreds and since he started doing that keepers have had to contribute as much with the bat as with the gloves.

“Quality glovework is still key, of course, but gone are the days where you can pick a keeper on that aspect alone; they need to be able to score hundreds, big hundreds.

“Anyone who has been instrumental and had that much influence in changing a sport, in the way Tiger Woods has done with golf, goes down as a complete and utter legend as far as I’m concerned.”

Longevity

Gilchrist played his last ODI in 2008 against India in Brisbane – caught by MS Dhoni off the bowling of Praveen Kumar for two – but there will still be plenty of glittering wicketkeeper-batsmen on display in the 2015 World Cup.

Sri Lanka veteran Sangakkara will bring the curtain down on a stunning ODI career, which has so far yielded 21 hundreds, 93 half-centuries and an average in excess of 40.

Plus, many eyes will be on the charismatic darling of Indian cricket, Dhoni - now retired from Test cricket - to see if he can thrive down under as he did on home soil in 2011 when he guided his nation to victory over Sri Lanka in the final with a 79-delivery 91.

Prior is full of admiration for both men, but hopes their contributions on Antipodean turf are bettered by a talented young star from the West Country.

“Sangakkara stands out – in any form of the game,” said Prior. “He is a guy that I’ve looked up to enormously over the years because of his stats and longevity.

“He is still doing a phenomenal job with the gloves at the age of 37, whether he is stood up to the wicket or stood back, so he is an amazing, amazing player.

“You have to give a mention to Dhoni, too, as he has won so many games for India with the bat while keeping and captaining at the same time. He is a complete all-round package – but I hope he is outshone by Buttler in the World Cup!”

Opportunity

Prior is expecting few wicketkeeping clangers in February and March and plenty of slick takes, especially in the matches in Australia, with the Sussex stopper of the view that Gilchrist’s homeland is one of the more routine places to don the gloves.

However, he did explain why keeping in modern one-day cricket can be tricky.

You stand miles back when the seamers are on in Australia and the ball floats through to you beautifully without a great deal of wobble.

“If you could pick a country to keep in, Australia would be it,“ added Prior, who is currently rehabbing from Achilles surgery.

“You stand miles back when the seamers are on and the ball floats through to you beautifully without a great deal of wobble.

“Then, when you’re up to the stumps, there is not a great deal of turn or bounce, so it should be a good opportunity for the keepers to show their skills.

“One of the toughest things while keeping in one-day cricket now, though, is that because bowlers bowl tighter lines and batters hit a lot more balls, you get fewer deliveries coming through to you.

“It is very easy to lose your rhythm but then, out of nowhere, someone can nick the ball behind for you to dive and catch, so you have to make sure you are on it and concentrating 100 per cent.”