Red Sox eye Gilly (Boston looking at a cricket player)

[rooboy]

Adam Gilchrist is renowned for his destructive hitting has caught the attention of the Boston Red Sox.

Red Sox first-base coach Jon Deeble said the Major League champions had expressed interest in the Test vice-captain in the past.

The left-hander is one of the cleanest hitters in cricket history but it is surprising that last year's Major League series champions would be attracted to a 33-year-old cricketer.

"They have expressed interest, there is no doubt about that," Deeble told Channel Seven.

"They have seen videotapes of him hitting a cricket ball; he's got the two key ingredients, he has got the eye and the power."

Deeble was the coach of the Australia team that collected the silver medal at last year's Athens Olympics.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Red-Sox-eye-Gilly/2005/04/06/1112489555221.html

I doubt that he'll go over to baseball, but this guy can really hit a ball, and he's got great catching hands as well, so he'd might make a pretty good all round player

[warrens]

1. I've always wondered what would happen...

I tried playing cricket a couple of times, but it's just so much different from baseball. But I'd love to see what he could do.

[rooboy]

3. Generally speaking a cricketer wouldn't suit...

because good strokeplay in cricket involves the bat being played in a perpendicular fashion. Gilchrist has such a good eye, however, that he is able to abandon the classic style and just club the shit out of the ball. If you mishit a baseball it usually flies off for a foul, which is no big deal. Mishit a cricket ball and someone normally catches you out, so that kind of risk-taking is frowned upon.

We've had a few successful transitions from Australian Rules football to NFL (Darren Bennett at San Diego is the most notable), but I can't recall a cricketer making it in baseball.

[tjwmason]

2. I hope that they can get him before the summer

It's the Ashes this year (series, England vs. Australia). We have the best chance of winning in a long time, and some baseball team pinching Gilchrist would be a helping hand along the way.

[rooboy]

4. Yeah, looking forward to this summer...

but I think we're counting on the top order to make all the runs. Gilchrist doesn't usually bat until about no. 7 because the others are so good.

Look out for Michael Clarke - I suspect he'll be the star with the bat if Ponting doesn't fire. But the English batting has improved out of sight compared to a few years ago...