<i>Gill's bat cracks</i>

If you were to look in a catalogue, the blade is known as a Puma Ballistic. But this one has a tongue-in-cheek nickname taken from a Simpsons episode where Homer makes a baseball bat with supernatural powers.
Bats might all look roughly the same, but the wicketkeeper-batsman says this one had that hard-to-define element that made it the best bat he has owned.
And he's owned a few.
Homer's Wonder Bat was created when lightning struck a tree. Gilchrist's came about in a more conventional fashion and landed in his kit before the previous Ashes series.
The bat felt right from the start and lightning struck when Gilchrist took it home to Perth for the third Test against England.
Gilchrist crashed his way to a famous 100 from 57 balls that day and knew the bat was something special.
"It's just the best bat I've ever had. We're spoilt for choice at this level, the sponsors look after us with quality bats, but this one in particular just felt great," Gilchrist said.
"I've really hung on to it and I've tried to sap every bit of life out of it."
Modern bats don't last that long, but Gilchrist has nursed the Wonder Bat as if it was an orphaned marsupial.
It has been glued and pinned and preserved at every turn. If staying up nights with a cold flannel and a bottle of milk would have done the trick, Gilchrist would have been there.
The axemen of the team will carry six or eight blades in their kit, but Gilchrist carries just three: the much-loved Wonder Bat, a practice bat and a spare.
Once he was aware just how good this model was, it was immediately excused from training. By the time last year's World Cup came around, it was starting to show some fragility.
"Occasionally I was using another bat in some of the earlier games just in the hope that I might be able to use that one in the finals. Unveil the Wonder Bat, if you like," he said with a laugh.
An insignificant squash ball placed inside the glove got a lot of exposure after Gilchrist smashed 149 from 104 balls (including 13 fours and eight sixes) in the World Cup final, but in his heart the batsman knew it was his trusty piece of willow that was responsible for his Homeresque epic.
Wonder Bat, like a loved shirt, has been hanging on to life by a thread or two.
It was there in Hobart when he hit his 100th six so far they had to put out an all points bulletin to find the ball.
And it hung in there for the final Test series against India, just long enough to wave goodbye at Adelaide Oval. But that was it.
Last Friday's Twenty20 encounter proved one game too far for the Wonder Bat. One lusty blow too many and the Wonder Bat's handle came loose. Like its owner, it has had enough. But unlike the man, it seemed uninterested in seeing out the one-day series.
Gilchrist said the blade is basically beyond repair, but there is some hope it might be revived for one last innings. "I hadn't totally blown it apart when I changed it at the Twenty20," he said. "I'll see. I might try and see if there is any more life in it.
"It's beyond fixing, it's been glued up and pinned up and now the handle has sort of gone.
"It's sad in a funny way, it's been a good, faithful servant."
He is not so superstitious as to be carried away with the loss of Wonder Bat.
"It was with me for those two big 100s," he said. "And quite a few failures in between."
Gilchrist has been a bit of a one-bat man but has always shown the right amount of respect to fallen former partners.
While the Wonder Bat could fetch extraordinary amounts from well-heeled tragics, it will not be sold and instead will join his trophy collection at home.
Some years ago, Gilchrist had a frame made up to house any bat he made a significant 100 with. A lack of foresight saw the cabinet made with only 16 places and now it needs extensions to make room in the harem.