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Adam retires on the eve of Pakistan Series - is it the beginning of the end for Australia?

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In the week that Adam Gilchrist decided to call it a day Andrew Hughes considers if there is a right time to retire from international cricket and how Australia will cope without him

First Shaun Pollock and now Adam Gilchrist. The first month of 2008 has already seen the retirements of two of the game's greats. In just over a year, Australia have lost five of their household names: Warne, McGrath, Martyn, Langer and Gilchrist. Inevitably attention now turns to their oldest remaining senior player, Matthew Hayden, who turns 37 this October. When it comes to deciding when to step down, what advice can he take from his colleagues?

Well, first of all, the manner of the announcement usually reflects the personality of the individual. Shane Warne toasted his departure from the Members Dining room at the MCG in full showbiz dinner jacket. Glen McGrath confirmed his retirement in a down to earth, low-key affair held in lanes two and three of the MCG's indoor nets. The near reclusive Damien Martyn made no public appearance at all after announcing his retirement and slipped quietly from view into obscurity.

As for the timing of the departure, you often hear players say something like, 'I woke up one morning and I just knew it was time'. Gilchrist, Langer and Warne have all used variations on this. It is a nice thought; that the realisation comes on suddenly, as though the angel of cricket appears, shaking her head sadly and saying, "C'mon mate, time to pack it in." And who are we to doubt the sincerity of these explanations.

But I suspect there is a more prosaic motivation behind the timing of resignations and that is quite simply, the desire to go out with dignity and retire at their peak. Better to stop playing altogether than to cling on, to be seen as an old codger who just won't get off the stage, perhaps even to suffer the ignominy of being dropped for a younger man. Nasser Hussain spoke of losing the desire to compete, not with the opposition, but with the young guns trying to take his place. Graham Thorpe called it a day when it became clear that he was not an automatic choice for the England team in the summer of 2005.

And for Langer, Warne, McGrath and now Gilchrist, winning an Ashes series 5-0 was not going to be topped even if they played themselves to a creaking standstill. In this context, Gilchrist's dropped catch against India that precipitated his retirement simply brought home to him, a year later than his colleagues, that it was only going to be downhill from now on.

For Australia though, this loss of talent is potentially very dangerous, a greater exodus than that in the early 1980s that led to a sharp decline. Their bowling attack has already been downgraded from immortal to quite good. Now their middle order is seriously weakened and in Gilchrist, Ponting has lost a good source of counsel. Symonds will have to take on extra responsibility to shore up the middle order batting, just as Lee and Hayden have taken up a heavier load. Suddenly the tour of Pakistan in March is looking tricky from a cricket as well as a security point of view.

For the moment though, there is the razzmatazz of the shorter formats to take everyone's mind off the future, a last chance to see Gilchrist pounding the cover off the white ball, just as he did with the red for so many years.

First up is the Twenty20 match at Melbourne, the first such international game at this ground. Australia are without Hayden and are likely to give a game to Michael Hussey's brother, David, whilst India have a fit again Sreesanth but are without RP Singh.

Australia are [1.43] which might be considered to be a little short, given that their record in these twenty over thrashes is actually poorer than their visitors. The Aussies have won just over 53% of their matches, whereas India have won 81%. If you think that price on Australia is an insult to the reigning world Twenty20 Champions, you can back India at [3.25]. And for the sentimental amongst you, how about Adam Gilchrist as top Aussie batsman at [4.6].

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