Brisbane Test, Day 3, Tea
Saturday, November 10, 2001

That was a brilliant innings from Adam Gilchrist. He showed real control and composure when Australia needed it most. Once the position was secure he was back on his normal keel, hammering the Kiwis towards the end of the innings. It was fantastic batsmanship and great entertainment.

For me, he's the best batsman in the Australian team at the moment. He's certainly been the most consistent, along with Steve Waugh, for a good while now. He's just such an asset to any side - and he's wonderful to watch.

I think Steve Waugh will be happy with the state of the game, but he won't be happy about the conditions. The ball's already got pretty damp just in that little session, and the bowlers are struggling with it.

Australia's best hope of a win lies in enforcing the follow-on. The weather is now meant to clear tomorrow so we should get two days' play in, but the cloud cover is low and dark. It's pretty miserable and more time could be lost.

Waugh might just try Shane Warne straight away when they come out, because the ball will be relatively dry and it might be the only chance to get him on before it gets wet. We saw yesterday how Daniel Vettori couldn't control the wet ball. If not, he'll go for the quicks and possibly someone like Ricky Ponting or Matthew Hayden, who could do what Craig McMillan did.

Mark Richardson looks pretty solid – especially for a bloke who was batting down at No. 10 a few years ago! He looked like he wanted to be out there today, so I was quite impressed with him. Matthew Bell – he's more limited, particularly outside off stump. But if these two can blunt the attack we should see a pretty interesting final session.

Ian Healy made a record 395 dismissals in 119 Tests for Australia. His comments are appearing on Wisden.com at the end of every session of the Brisbane Test. He was talking to Camilla Rossiter.

More Ian Healy
Day 2, Close: NZ must dig deep
Day 2, Tea: They've got them where they want them

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