Charity, Media and Political Work
Outside cricket, Gilchrist is an ambassador for the charity World Vision in India, a country in which he is popular due to his cricketing achievements, and sponsors a boy whose father has died. He was approached in early 2005 by the US baseball franchise, the Boston Red Sox, with a view to him playing for them when his cricket career ended. However, he was selected for the 2007 Cricket World Cup and announced his retirement from Test and One-Day cricket in early 2008.
In March 2008, Gilchrist joined the Nine Network. Gilchrist will appear as one of a panel of revolving co-hosts for the revived Wide World of Sports Weekend Edition. He made his debut on the program in March 2008, and commentates on Nine's cricket coverage during the Australian summer.
Gilchrist has been approached by the ruling Australian Labor Party to contest the Division of Stirling (in Perth's northern suburbs) at the upcoming federal election. Stirling is a marginal seat, currently held by the opposition Liberal Party.
As Amway Australia Ambassador, Gilchrist has played a role in many of their charity events. In August 2010, he presented the Freedom Wheels program, an intiative to provide modified bikes to kids with disabilities, a cheque for $20,000.
In 2008, Gilchrist supported debate on whether Australia Day should be moved to a new date because the current date marks European settlement and is offensive to many Aboriginal Australians. Gilchrist is considered to have left-wing views; Australian captain Ricky Ponting commented in his annual Captain's Diary that his deputy had a penchant for reading Karl Marx while on tour. In 2010, Gilchrist was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to cricket and the community.
Read more about this topic: Adam Gilchrist
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