MELBOURNE: Adam Gilchrist may be in the final weeks of his farewell series but he will continue to promote the next generation of players through the Adam Gilchrist Cricket Development Scholarship, the media reported here on Wednesday.
The retiring Australian vice-captain was in his home city of Perth preparing for Friday night's one-day encounter against Sri Lanka and he awarded a scholarship to promising teenager Gareth Oakley for a playing season in England.
"The opportunity to offer the scholarship was one way I can begin to repay cricket for the worldwide experiences I have enjoyed, and will hopefully give young players a kick-start in their careers in sport," Gilchrist was quoted as saying by The Australian.
Oakley, 18, a tall off-spinner from the northern Victorian town of Rochester, will follow in the footsteps of Gilchrist who, as a 17-year-old attending Kadina High School in Lismore, northern New South Wales, was awarded a Big Brother Movement scholarship which enabled him to play cricket for five months with the Richmond Cricket Club in London.
The scholarship helped Gilchrist to develop his skills and he has been keen to give others the same opportunity, offering the award since 2004 to promising teenage cricketers who have a level-one coaching degree.
Oakley moved to Melbourne this season to join the Melbourne Cricket Club and has been playing in the lower grades.
He was due to begin university next week but on being awarded the scholarship Tuesday hastily deferred his course.
"I found out about the scholarship through my regional coach in Shepparton and thought 'this would be OK' but really, I thought it was pie in the sky stuff," Oakley said.
