alleged that the ICC protected him because Sri Lankan cricket authorities portrayed any criticism of the bowler's legitimacy as racism and a witch-hunt conducted by whites. In response to these comments, former Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu said that by questioning the credentials of players like Muralitharan and Tendulkar, Gilchrist had done no good to his own reputation. Charity, media, business career 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 has appeared 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 Fox Sport's cricket coverage during the Australian summer. In 2013 Gilchrist joined Ricky Ponting and various other names in cricket to commentate for Channel Ten in the third series of the Big Bash League. 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 initiative to provide modified bikes to kids with disabilities, a cheque for $20,000. Gilchrist was the chair of the National Australia Day Council from 2008 to 2014. In 2008, Gilchrist supported debate on whether Australia Day should be moved to a new date because the current date marks British settlement of New South Wales and is offensive to many Aboriginal Australians. Gilchrist has had a number of company directorships outside of cricket. His appointment to the board of ASX listed sandalwood company TFS Corporation, committee member of Commonwealth Business Forum in Perth and director of Travelex. The appointment to TFS Corporation was not without controversy when as a board member of TFS he was named as a plaintiff suing his own TFS shareholders for defamation Gilchrist also plays himself on the Australian comedy series How to Stay Married. References Books External links 1971 births Living people Australia Test cricket captains Australia One