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West Ham’s relegation nightmare intensified dramatically as Wolves tore them apart 3-0 at Molineux this afternoon, with chants of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” ringing from the away end.

Manager Nuno Espirito Santo watched helplessly as his former club finally ended their winless start to the campaign by ruthlessly exposing the Hammers’ defensive frailties inside a catastrophic opening 45 minutes.

Wolves needed just four minutes to pierce West Ham’s brittle backline when Hee-chan Hwang’s cross found Jhon Arias, who crashed home his first goal for the club to ignite raucous celebrations.

The nightmare worsened dramatically just past the half-hour mark when Soungoutou Magassa clumsily fouled teenager Mateus Mane inside the penalty area, allowing Hwang to dispatch his spot-kick past the helpless Alphonse Areola.

Mane himself twisted the knife four minutes before the interval with a spectacular long-range thunderbolt that flew inside the near post, leaving Areola rooted as the 18-year-old wheeled away to celebrate his first Premier League goal.

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West Ham had dominated possession with almost two-thirds of the ball yet created absolutely nothing, their impotence in attack matched only by their defensive chaos.

The absence of playmaker Lucas Paqueta, who’s attracting rumoured interest from Tottenham, exposed the glaring truth that Nuno simply lacks the quality needed to extract his struggling squad from the bottom three.

The Hammers have now extended their winless streak to nine Premier League matches, leaving them marooned four points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest with the situation growing increasingly desperate.

Tuesday’s crucial encounter against fellow strugglers Forest at the London Stadium has transformed into a must-win fixture for Nuno, whose expensive January recruits Pablo and Taty Castellanos watched powerlessly from the side.

Commentator takes aim at "horrendous" Max Kilman in West Ham defeat

Pressure mounting on the former Wolves boss has reached boiling point following this abject surrender against the division’s basement dwellers, and following reports that West Ham are considering Nuno’s future.

Nuno definitely wasn’t helped by his incredibly fragile backline, who were cut through like a knife through butter on a real afternoon to forget.

One of the major culprits, as he has often been this season, was £40 million defender Max Kilman.

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Taking to X, BBC commentator Sam Avery took aim at the Englishman, calling his signing “laughable” and potentially “the worst” in recent memory.

The 28-year-old has been subject to intense criticism this season, but Nuno’s lack of options means that West Ham have little choice but to rely on Kilman week in, week out.

After signing two strikers, there are widespread calls for the Irons to bring in a new defender as well, with relegation now staring them in the face.

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	India’s ODI side not to travel to Pakistan owing to a cramped schedule © Getty Images

The Indian board has decided to reject Pakistan’s proposal for a three-match one-day tour in mid-March. The Pakistan board had requested the BCCI for a series once the Australian tour was shortened but India felt their players’ schedule was too tight to accommodate another tour.”The players have had a long and strenuous tour of Australia and will return only on March 8 or 9,” Niranjan Shah, the board secretary told Cricinfo. “They have to assemble for the South Africa series on March 22. So it will be really tough to play three ODIs in between.”The series had been under discussion between the two boards following the hesitancy shown by Australia in coming to Pakistan as scheduled in March-April. It was decided recently that Australia’s tour – if it goes ahead – would be considerably shortened. Pakistan were then keen to utilise the free period in the first half of March.The Pakistan board, it is learnt, were confident that the tour would go ahead and had already began preparations for the three games, all scheduled for Lahore. The decision from the BCCI – taken by the office bearers today – was conveyed to the PCB chairman, Nasim Ashraf, by his Indian counterpart, Sharad Pawar.However, India are likely to tour Pakistan for a short one-day series before the Champions Trophy in September-October.

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Dwayne Bravo was one of the few who demonstrated his affection for Lara enthusiastically © Getty Images

In the end, there was a tear in his eye, and he left to a warm round of applause from journalists, not all of whom had been always adoring. Brian Lara’s final press conference was a mammoth affair and, among many memories, it carried enough hints about the circumstances that hastened his departure.”At least I had the opportunity to say goodbye”, he said, “I saw Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, all these guys wanted to go that little extra step. Unfortunately they were not granted the opportunity to.”Lara chose not to answer directly what changed his mind about touring England as a Test player, but he repeatedly made it clear it had been his plan to tour. “I sat with the selectors in Antigua to pick the team for England, and of course I picked myself.”What had changed then? “West Indies cricket is at a stage where change is necessary,” he said, “We are most likely going to have a young captain, someone under the age of 30 years, and he will need to mould this team with the support that he needs.”I just thought there is no need for me to be out there. Physically there is nothing much I can do to help at present. It’s just a matter of allowing the team that change that is needed. Maybe this is just one of it. Maybe there is a lot more to take place. But I just see no reason for me to carry on at this present time.”Lara sometimes cut a slightly lonely figure on the field during his last match. There was a hug with Chris Gayle as the two crossed paths when Gayle was returning to the pavilion, but only Dwyane Bravo, a fellow Trinidadian whom Lara has nurtured, demonstrated his affection enthusiastically. English players welcomed Lara with a guard of honour when he came to the crease but there was no such salutations from his own team at the end of the day. On his last day at Sydney, Steve Waugh had his final parade on the shoulders of his team-mates; Lara hurried through stairs, past his team-mates, and disappeared into the Garfield Sobers Pavillion.Earlier in the day, he had been run out when Marlon Samuels hit the ball to mid-on, charged off the blocks before retracing his steps. When asked if Samuels had said sorry to him after the game, Lara pursed his lips, fumbled for words, and said nothing. “It would have to be a yes, or a no. So I will leave it.”He wasn’t rancorous, but the warmth was missing too when the subject of captaincy and board came up. “I hold West Indian cricket dear to my heart”, he repeated often, and promised that he was “not lost to West Indian cricket”, but it was apparent that there was a lot he was holding back. “The time for that is not now”, he said every time he was asked what in his opinion was wrong with West Indian cricket.The subject of his captaincy came up more than once but Lara wouldn’t be drawn into a discussion. “What I have to do is just wish the team and the new captain all the best, and try to persuade the West Indies Cricket Board to ensure that the captain and the team have the support that is necessary from them.”You might see eleven individuals out there and of course we are criticised all the time after we have a bad performance. But West Indies cricket goes deep and unless we lay a proper foundation, you know you are going to get that sort of performance out in the middle. On one day we are spectacular and can score 418 runs to win a Test match in the fourth innings, and the next day we can’t score 60.

Lara: ‘I have no reason to be worried about it anymore. I just want to move on’ © Getty Images

“About that captaincy thing, I have no reason to be worried about it anymore. I just want to move on. My support is always going to be there. I have had an open-door policy with the players. They all know my number and they can call me at any point in time, for anything at all and I will be there to support them.”His eternal regret, Lara said, was that West Indies remained an abysmal team for the last 12 years of his career. “The most unfortunate thing in cricket is not achieving what I set out to do from the very beginning: to be a part of a successful team over a long period of time. I had a little taste of it when I started in 1989, and up till 1995. The last 12 years have been very disappointing.”That in itself is the sort of disappointment I have had. I am just very thankful to be able to break all those records. It has been a great honour to play for the West Indies, to hold a bat and to spend 17 years in international cricket. That is something I am proud of.”Lara didn’t rule out the possibility of playing county cricket or getting involved with the game in some way. “Right now, I am going to take a break. Maybe a week, maybe two weeks. Then I will look at options. I not committing to anything, or ruling anything out.”But first of all, I just want to move back a little bit, relax and wake up tomorrow, or next week or two weeks from now, knowing I can do what I want. I can pick my daughter up and take her to school and do many different things that I haven’t been able to do in the past. The future is there and I will have a lot of opportunities in front of me. But there is no reason to rush into anything at this present time.”

Gillespie: ‘The bowlers, we all love talking about our batting, and I’ve got a few bragging rights there now’ © Getty Images

Jason Gillespie has become the first Australian nightwatchman to score a century in almost 30 years and was in a state of shock after reaching the landmark.”I never expected it, never,” Gillespie told AAP. “Not in my wildest dreams, so it’s pretty surreal, pretty bizarre actually. I came off and there was [television commentators] Wasim Akram and Harsha [Bhogle] having a chat about my batting, and they had my wagon wheel up. That was very weird.”Gillespie punched Abdur Razzak through cover for four to reach his century. His previous best score at any level was 90 playing E grade for Adelaide in 1992-1993. “I’ve not even got a hundred in the backyard,” he said. “So it’s a bit surreal at the moment. I wasn’t nervous because I never expected to get in that position. I was loving it.”He was delighted that he had the highest score among his bowling team-mates. “Someone mentioned it yesterday and I thought they were on drugs,” he said. “I looked up at the dressing-room as soon as I passed [Glenn] McGrath’s score, 61. He’s been giving me grief about that for a while now so I was very relieved to pass that.”Then I had Merv [Hughes], he was up there and he had 70-odd, and Flemo [Damien Fleming] 70-odd and Pistol [Paul Reiffel] so ticked them all off. I managed to even tick off Warney [Shane Warne] today, too, which was cool. The bowlers, we all love talking about our batting, and I’ve got a few bragging rights there now.”Gillespie and Michael Hussey, who is on 93, added 154 runs for the third wicket before rain washed out the last session’s play on the third day. However, Gillespie admitted that it was his fault that Ricky Ponting was run out on 52. “He [Ponting] called me through and I was in my own little fog … I felt pretty ordinary for a while, I still do but these things happen in cricket,” said Gillespie. “It was my fault. I thought ‘Shit I better do alright here’. I felt shithouse.”So far, Gillespie has eight wickets in the series to go with his hundred but said that he wasn’t thinking about the Ashes later this year. “There are guys coming back. You know you’ve got Taity [Shaun Tait], Kasper [Michael Kasprowicz], Pigeon [Glenn McGrath] to all come back, so I’ll probably slide down the greasy pole again and bide my time. I haven’t really thought about it.”

The Indian women’s team will receive a tremendous boost when the merger finally happens © Getty Images

The proposed merger between the Women’s Cricket Association of India and their men’s counterpart is unlikely to happen in the near future, with the BCCI putting on hold a final decision on the matter. According to UNI, the BCCI is unlikely to decide on the matter during their working committee meeting on June 2 and 3.However, the BCCI, which had earlier postponed a decision on the matter without offering any reasons, will discuss the issue during the meeting. SK Nair, the BCCI secretary, told rediff.com website that an understanding would have to be reached on several organisational issues and conduct of tournaments before a merger can be announced.The merger, which would be as per the ICC rulings, has already taken place in England, Australia and New Zealand, while the ICC also merged with the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC) this April. The ICC has also warned that the women’s team would not receive official recognition if the merger doesn’t take place.”The ICC has been insisting on the merger,” said Shubhangi Kulkarni, the WCAI secretary. “The ICC has said if we don’t merge then there is a possibility we would be left out. We have asked them for extension of time, which the ICC has granted and will run till April 2006. They said further action would be decided only then.”A merger will allow the women’s team to use the infrastructure and the facilities which are currently accessible only to the men. “They have made the game so big in the country,” Kulkarni said. “I hope that with the two boards merging, women’s cricket will also get the exposure and bring in more sponsors. Also, it will provide better coaching and training facilities [for the women]. The NCA [National Cricket Academy] trains coaches, so we’d basically want to avail such facilities where we have better players and better coaches coming through the system.” The Indian women’s team has been doing exceptionally well of late, and reached the finals of the 2005 World Cup.

Steve Harmison: this could be his launch-pad© Getty Images

Despite the euphoria of that historic victory at Sabina Park, England’s coach, Duncan Fletcher, has urged his players to avoid complacency as they prepare for Friday’s second Test in Trinidad. “It’s very important that we look after our own game and prepare for the next Test,” he stressed. “If we start focussing on other things we’ll probably forget about what we’ve got to do, so we’ll just let that be – it’s out of our hands.”On the face of it, England have established a devastating psychological hold on the series, after bowling West Indies out on the fourth morning in Jamaica for 47 – their lowest-ever total. But recent history in the Caribbean would suggest that no side is more dangerous than West Indies when written off. Five years ago, Brian Lara inspired them to a 2-1 series lead against Australia, after they were bowled out for 51 in the first Test. And five years before that, in 1993-94, England were themselves bowled out for 46 by Curtly Ambrose in Trinidad, only to come storming back the following week, to record the first Test win by a touring side in Barbados for 59 years.”We must have an advantage,” admitted Fletcher, “because confidence levels will be high among the bowlers, while the batters have showed a lot of character. For someone like Mark Butcher, who took a bit of a battering and is pretty bruised, for him to go and win like that is a huge advantage – if we’d lost and he’d taken that battering it would have been pretty hard to come back strongly.”England’s bowling hero on that fourth morning was Steve Harmison, who returned in spades the faith that his coach has invested in him, with second-innings figures of 7 for 12. “We’ve shown a lot of faith in a lot of guys,” said Fletcher, “and Harmison is certainly one of them. It was about three years ago when we realised that this was the guy that England needed and needed badly – most sides need a guy with pace and bounce and he’s got another dimension in that he can also swing the ball.”Troy Cooley, England’s bowling coach, was equally full of praise for Harmison. “He’s got himself organised, his attitude is absolutely right and because of that he’s been able to bowl the way he wants to bowl. This could be the launch-pad to go on to big things.”But if England need any indication of just how dangerous West Indies are likely to be, they might as well ask Graham Thorpe, England’s sole survivor of that 46-all-out debacle in 1993-94. On that occasion, England had believed they were in line for a surprise victory, after taking a healthy first-innings lead at Port-of-Spain. But Ambrose steamed in with an irresistible display, taking 6 for 24 as England folded in 19.1 overs.”They will be hurt because we were hurt,” said Thorpe. “It’s quite humiliating to be bowled our for such a low score, although at least we were away from home when it happened. It was the most humiliated I’ve ever been on a cricket field, but I remember Mike Atherton saying at the time that it was a top spell of bowling, and it was. We knew we were up against a great bowler and we didn’t really have the answers on that day, but it makes you analyse your game that little bit more.”We came back and won in Barbados so we’re well aware that West Indies are not a pushover,” warned Thorpe. “We have to expect them to bounce back. No professional sportsman likes to be beaten in that way and bowled out for that sort of score. They’re a hugely talented side who could come back and win the next game, but it’s for us to analyse our own games and see how we can improve.”Nevertheless, England’s heroics made for a pleasant journey to Port-of-Spain, in stark contrast to the recriminations searing through the West Indian camp. “It’s a huge bonus for us,” admitted Thorpe, “because we expected two really tough days. But we’ve plucked a performance out of the air. It happens every now and then, but it’s got us in the driving seat and that’s a fantastic start for the tour.”

India had batsmen in Mohammad Kaif and Rahul Dravid who produced the goods when they mattered, something New Zealand couldn’t generate in their own innings, and they inflicted a seven-wicket loss that should spell the end of New Zealand’s World Cup.The match in Centurion saw another New Zealand top-order batting collapse and the only remaining strand of hope of New Zealand making the semi-finals is for Zimbabwe to beat Sri Lanka tomorrow.But getting into the semi-finals in that fashion would be embarrassing for this New Zealand side who appear in a state of batting shell shock, almost completely out of touch with their regular game.A score of 146 was never going to be enough to trouble the highly-talented Indian batting line-up which is running high on confidence at the moment.Despite the best efforts of Shane Bond to bowl New Zealand back into the game to leave India 21 for three wickets, the shortcomings of the New Zealanders were ruthlessly exposed by India, just as they were by Australia earlier in the week.It is a cruel fact of sport that the catch dropped by wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum, when Dravid was on one, from Bond’s bowling will be remembered by many as the reason for New Zealand’s loss coming as it did when India were 22 for three wickets.That would be unfortunate. New Zealand lost this game, as they lost the earlier match against Australia, because of their lack of batting.McCullum’s was an unfortunate miss but as far as his tournament was concerned it was an aberration. The same could not be said of the batsmen who so often got themselves out in similar manner.New Zealand’s batting problems, the failure of the collective unit to work together, were borne out again in an effort that ranked high on the most abysmal perpetrated by the side.While they were dismissed for less against Australia, they could at least say that was attributable to the pace of Brett Lee.But on this occasion it was Zaheer Khan, a bowler of whom they had seen plenty in New Zealand, and who was bowling in far less amenable conditions, who undid the batsmen from a side supposedly playing for a World Cup semi-final place with his haul of four wickets for 42 runs.The wickets of Craig McMillan, easily caught when turning the second ball of the innings to square leg, and Nathan Astle, pinned plumb leg before wicket off the next ball, were blows that struck at the foundation of the innings.Scott Styris attempted to recover the situation with Stephen Fleming but when the score was 38 he had a ball from Ashish Nehra take the edge and fly to wicket-keeper Dravid to be the third to fall.McCullum was elevated to protect Chris Cairns but the plan failed as he was bowled by Khan, his 100th wicket in One-Day Internationals, for four runs and New Zealand were 47 for four wickets.Indian captain Sourav Ganguly marshalled his bowlers effectively throughout the innings, and everything he tried seemed to work out.Never more so than when he brought back Javagal Srinath for his second spell where he picked up the vital wicket of New Zealand’s in-form batsman, Fleming, for 30 when he attempted a back foot shot only to offer a simple catch to Sachin Tendulkar at mid-off. He took one for 20 off eight overs.The rout was complete when Cairns, having reached 20, attempted a cut shot of sorts to off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. The result of his mis-timed shot was a simple catch to Khan at backward point. New Zealand were 88 for six and the only question seemed to be whether they could avoid lowering their worst score in World Cup games, the 112 against Australia. Harbhajan ended with two for 28 off his 10 overs.The lower-order hung around long enough to keep the score slowly building but the longer they stayed, the more it highlighted the inadequacies of the top order players and their failure to make use of the good conditions.Once India got over the hiccup at the start of their innings with the loss of Virender Sehwag for one, Ganguly for three and Tendulkar for 15, and the opportunities, rather than definite chances, to fieldsmen who would have achieved the miraculous held they held them, Kaif and Dravid batted without great risk and sensibly accumulated their runs while all the time dragging down the New Zealand spirits.They each scored half centuries. Kaif played the more extensive hand, achieving his fourth half-century in ODIs and finishing on 68 not out while Dravid was 53 having scored his 44th half-century.From India’s point of view, Kaif’s finding of form was invaluable as he had been the one batsman in the order without a sizeable score and the New Zealanders will have done he and India a big favour today.Indian captain Ganguly said he was delighted with the bowling and fielding of his side and he knew that even when the side was in trouble they had the players capable of improving the situation.”We have done very well so far but we have still got the most important part to come,” he said.New Zealand captain Fleming said the side was never in the game and had produced a poor performance batting wise.”We needed to be a bit more polished in all areas and on days like this you have to post good scores,” he said.India will play Kenya in their semi-final next week and the prospect must be for Australia and India to play the final next weekend.

Sri Lanka defeated India by six runs in the tension racked PremadasaInternational Stadium tonight in a game that could have swung eitherway and was only settled in the final nerve jangling over of the game.This was one-day cricket at it’s gripping best, with fortunes seesawing throughout the day. In the end, the Sri Lankan spinners heldtheir nerve as the Indian batsmen, needing 222 for victory, stumbledin the last five overs of the game.At the end of the 45th over, bowled by Sanath Jayasuriya, India needed30 runs from 30 balls with four wickets remaining. Rahul Dravid, whofinished unbeaten on 49, was batting with Virender Shewag and the pairlooked to be cruising towards the target, effortlessly working thespinners into the gaps.Kumar Dharmasena, who handsomely repaid the national selectors fortheir faith with an emotionless performance, bowled the 46th andconceded five runs. India though still looked to have the game in thebag. Jayasuriya called his senior players to his side. They discussedtheir options in animated fashion before agreeing that the time hadcome to throw their final match winning card: Muttiah Muralitharan.It was to be his final over and fourth spell of the day and it swungthe initiative back towards the home team. Rahul Dravid hit a singleoff the first delivery and Shewag scrambled two runs with a clump towide long on. Out of the blue, however, Muralitharan conjured up twoconsecutive dot balls. Shewag panicked, went for a boundary, and waswell caught by Suresh Perera at long off.Only three runs were scored off the over and India now needed 22 runsof the final three overs, but Dharmasena conceded just five in the48th over and Jayasuriya likewise in the penultimate, leaving 12 offthe final one bowled by Dharmsena.The off spinner allrounder conceded just five as the India failed tofind the boundary and the terraces erupted with uncontained joy, asthe Sri Lankan players converged in celebration and the Indian batsmenwalked slowly to their dressing room knowing full well that they hadbeen the masters of their own fate.India had started their run chase disastrously, slipping to 30 forthree in the ninth over, thanks to a double strike by Suresh Perera ­Yuvraj Singh caught at square leg and Amay Khurasia trapped lbw ­ andthe soft dismissal of Harbhajan Singh, who had been bravely promotedin the order to make maximum use of the early fielding restrictions.When Laxman was caught behind off Dilhara Fernando India were 71 forfour and Rahul Dravid joined the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly at thewicket. Ganguly had decided to play in the middle order to counteractthe Sri Lankan spinners and the plan looked to be working, asthe duo added 80 runs for the fifth wicket.Russel Arnold broke the partnership when Ganguly top edged a sweep toJayasuriya at short leg. India were 151 for five in the 38th over andSri Lanka were back in the game. Nevertheless, India still looked incontrol until those desperate last overs.Earlier in the game the Sri Lankans had struggled to 221 after winningthe toss. They started well, scoring 48 for the first wicket, beforelosing three wickets for 12 runs. Avishka Gunawardene, dropped twiceduring his 63, then added 73 for the fourth wicket with RomeshKaluwitharana.The second collapse of the innings soon reduced the home side to 155for seven before a 49 run stand between allrounders Kumar Dharmasenaand Suresh Perera rescued the innings and showed clearly the value ofbowlers that can bat.With Muralitharan carving the final ball of the innings over cover forfour Sri Lanka would have been delighted with their final total, butknew that the bowlers had to perform. Thankfully for them the fastbowlers made initial inroads and the spin bowlers held their nerve atthe death. India now play against New Zealand on Thursday and SriLanka take on New Zealand on Wednesday. Both games will be played atPremadasa International Stadium.

Pakistan allrounder Shoaib Malik has been included as the 16th member of the Test squad for the upcoming series against England in the UAE. Malik, who last played a Test in August 2010, was picked on the request of the team management who were keen to have him in the side based on his current batting form in limited overs and as an extra bowling option.A press release from the Pakistan Cricket Board stated that team manager Intikhab Alam had made the request to chief selector Haroon Rashid, stating that he and head coach Waqar Younis were in favour of Shoaib Malik being retained “given his present form in T20Is and the ODIs”. Rashid’s recommendation was then approved by PCB chairman Shahryar Khan.Malik made a comeback to the international side in the home series against Zimbabwe in May, after a gap of two years, and struck an ODI hundred in Lahore. In 11 ODI innings this year, Malik has scored 500 runs with a century and three fifties at an average of 100, while his run tally in T20 internationals stands at 118 from six matches. Malik’s most recent fifty was an unbeaten knock of 96 in the second ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare, which ended in a five-run defeat for Pakistan due to bad light.”Following Intikhab Alam’s request, I spoke with my fellow selectors and there was unanimity over retaining Malik keeping in mind his current batting form and the off-spin bowling option that could be handy in the all-important forthcoming Test series against England,” said Haroon Rashid.The three-Test series against England kicks off with the first match in Abu Dhabi from October 13. The second and third Tests will be played in Dubai and Sharjah from October 22 and November 1, respectively.

	Adam Gilchrist bids adieu to fans after the final Test match of his career © Getty Images

Adam Gilchrist was weary but not exhausted. His baggy green, sweat-lined and with a desperately faded coat of arms, was more ragged than its owner. Relieved and happy that his Test career was over, he had been sad enough at tea that he bawled his eyes out to his team-mates.At the back of the Adelaide Oval’s indoor centre his large family watched him say goodbye. A baby squawked a couple of times and Gilchrist choked up when thanking his wife and children for sticking by him. The extended members of the clan huddled beside the television cameras and were partly responsible for him walking away. Over the past couple of years the new additions made him understand how much his life had moved on.A simple dropped catch of VVS Laxman on the opening day was the sealer. The moment of clarity arrived between the ball hitting his gloves and the ground. He quickly looked up at the replay on the big screen.”It made me realise in the ensuing 10 or 15 minutes that that’s it,” he said. “I’m not moving quite as well as I have, not just on the field but in training and my fitness. I just realised I didn’t have the absolute desperation that you need to continue to maintain your standards.”Gilchrist’s wicketkeeping, which he felt he had to defend throughout his career because of the high-quality work of his predecessors, had slipped over the past month. “I don’t think anyone in this room has missed the fact that I did miss a few chances this series,” he said. “It was bugging me and I couldn’t understand why.”He was enjoying the team, the change in leadership, the new players and was thinking of retiring from one-dayers to extend his Test career. Everything changed with the sound of a ball bouncing out from two gloves. After 96 Tests, a world record 416 dismissals and 5570 runs, he has finished.There were so many groups of people waiting for him throughout the day that he must have felt like a bridegroom. India’s batsmen and Australia’s fielders lined up on the ground in the morning, allowing Gilchrist to run through them, a reception which was repeated for the final session. Two catches were added to his tally and he was ecstatic as his team-mates converged.Stumps were called early and there was no rush to grab a wicket, but there was an urgency to reach Gilchrist. He waved, he hugged and walked off first, his team-mates staying on the field and applauding in a gesture that was symbolic of the months ahead. They will miss him for many reasons.After speaking for 20 minutes about his highs and lows a group of first-aid workers cheered and waited for his autograph. He was looking forward to celebrating with his family, friends and team-mates, and trying to finish the dressing-room speech he had to stop when overwhelmed by emotion.The camaraderie, passion and pride of the side were the things that stood out most during his 12 years in international squads. “The way that legacy is passed on is the most glaring strength in Australian cricket,” he said, “and I’m certain I’m seeing it happen in other countries as well.”In a career of so many individual and collective medals he chose another group moment as his best. Australia hadn’t won in India for 35 years when he was thrust into the captaincy after Ricky Ponting broke his finger during the 2004 Champions Trophy. “From that moment on I started to get nervous and had a few self doubts and considered not taking it on,” he said. “To captain that team for the bulk of the series and be part of the leadership group that constructed that was the highest point and greatest achievement of my career personally.”The magnificent 149 in the 2007 World Cup final sealed a third successive trophy and the drawn-out nature of the tournament weighed heavily on Gilchrist. Five days before he left for the Caribbean his third child was born. As the event wore on he was lonely and a long way from home. “That was one of the most difficult parts of my career, getting through the World Cup,” he said. “To pick myself up [for the final] was very special.”Australian audiences have another six weeks to say their goodbyes as he joins the CB Series circuit. He wants to excite people, but when he sensed the crowd’s demand for something special in his final Test innings he fell to a loose shot on 14. “If I keep thinking I’m going to entertain,” he smiled, “I’ll get knocked over very easily.”Gilchrist’s international career began as a specialist limited-overs player and he was pleased it would wind down in the same format. “I’m thrilled the way it’s gone, that I didn’t pull out of one-day cricket and then extend my Test career,” he said. “One-day cricket gave me a chance to make a statement to the selectors and to the world. That filtered into Tests. To now play the last part of my career in one-day cricket, I am so excited about it.”Having thanked his coaches, a group of close team-mates and those who had supported him since he was child, Gilchrist was almost ready to go to his family. They exited first and he followed slowly, being interrupted at almost every step. In March he will re-join them for good.