Steve Waugh came out with a typically far-sighted remark the other day. He said that a whole generation of young Australians would grow up in the belief that the best way to construct a Test innings was to copy Adam Gilchrist: counterattack from the word go, and don't stop until the opposition is on its knees. In fact, Waugh was selling Gilchrist short. Schoolboys may be imitating him already, but so too are Test cricketers. Just look at Christchurch, where there were three innings of Gilchristian ferocity: Andrew Flintoff's 137 in 163 balls; Graham Thorpe's 200 not out in 231; and, the sincerest form of flattery of the lot, Nathan Astle's mind-blowing 222 in 168. Three weeks ago, the most recent innings to qualify for Wisden's Fastest Double-Hundreds list was Viv Richards's 242-ball effort against Australia at Melbourne in 1984-85. Nothing for 17 years, and now, thanks to Gilchrist (212 balls v South Africa at Johannesburg), Thorpe and Astle, three new entries all at once. If it's a coincidence, it's a pretty big one.

What is more likely is that certain batsmen now see it as legitimate to hit their way out of trouble, and that is where Gilchrist's influence comes in. Ian Botham, who for almost 20 years held the record for the fastest double-century in terms of balls received (220 v India at The Oval in 1982), and Richards (who once clubbed a century against England in 56 balls, still the quickest in Tests) were Gilchrist prototypes, but even they didn't go ballistic as often, and they didn't always have to bat with the tail. Quite simply, Gilchrist ranks as one of the most destructive batsmen of all time, and everyone wants to be like him.

Flintoff's century was pure Gilchrist, and it was made from No. 7 too. He came to the crease with England 106 for 5 and the game in the balance, but instead of opting for survival, he went all out for murder. Thirteen balls later Flintoff had 26 on the board, made up of five fours and a six over point; the fightback was under way. The clean-hitting was Gilchrist, and so were the shots: two cover-drives, an off-drive and three shoulder-freeing cuts. Thorpe went for imitation too. When Daniel Vettori came on to bowl, Thorpe greeted his first delivery with a swing for six over midwicket. It was initiative-stealing of the highest class.

From then on, they batted as if in a one-day game, only with more urgency. The funny thing was, they didn't even need to. The game was only in its third day, so time wasn't an issue, and the pitch had flattened out, so it wasn't as if they were hitting out because each ball might be their last. And it certainly wasn't slogging.

Thorpe had made the third-fastest double-century in Tests, but by the end of the game he had been pushed down to fourth by Astle. (In an age of fast-forward cricket, records wait for no man.) Gilchrist himself would have been hard-pushed to match Astle stroke for stroke, but then Gilchrist has rarely had to bat in lost causes as Astle had to. In that sense, Astle's innings was less significant - but more spectacular - than the Thorpe/Flintoff partnership, because it was like a condemned man making an outrageous bid for freedom: he didn't really have much choice. But it caught the zeitgeist perfectly.

And don't forget that this was a game between New Zealand and England, traditionally two of the dourest Test nations. In another Wisden table, Slowest Individual Batting, nine of the top 12 entries are from one of these two countries. They just don't do reckless. Or at least, they didn't, until Gilchrist showed them how.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com. You can read his reports here throughout the tour.

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