The webbing between the thumb and index finger of Dhoni's right glove had been found illegal following his stunning one-handed take off a Gilchrist inside-edge at the SCG last Sunday, after which Dhoni had been asked to swap gloves by match referee Jeff Crowe. Gilchrist dismissed suggestions that Dhoni's glove was a throwback to the late 90s, when 'keepers wore gloves with a huge webbing not unlike baseball mitts.

“They are nothing like what we were wearing when I first started my career,” the Australian stumper said. “We were wearing almost baseball mitts, they were getting out of hand. The ones Dhoni used the other day were nothing like that. I have no absolutely no doubt that he hasn't intentionally done that and try to get away or pull the wool over everyone's eyes. You get your gear, you are spoilt for choice, you just put it on and train in it. I don't think they were glaringly obvious to be different to what I use or anyone else uses, or what is legal at the moment. But they were just a little too big. It was an outstanding catch, it was! “He was just too good for himself. Dhoni took too good a catch and exposed it, I suppose, that fact that there was a little discrepancy there. Thankfully, it has not got out of control. Not for a moment am I insinuating that MS Dhoni intentionally wore them out there.”

Gilchrist's gloves too are made the same Indian company that supplies Dhoni his gloves. “I know the gentleman that makes them, he is the best in the world,” the Aussie vice-captain said. “May be in the manufacturing process —they are all hand-stitched — they may have used a little bit too much leather in that area. I promise you, I am not accusing anyone of sneaking back to what we had nine years ago, those big pouches in the gloves. In fact, I know it's the opposite because it could happen that easily. I have had my gloves checked too, and they are fine.”
Refusing to comment on Matthew Hayden being reprimanded for detrimental public comment against Harbhajan Singh, all Gilchrist would say was the burly opener commanded great respect within the team. “I have not ever cared to think what other teams think of Matthew Hayden,” Gilchrist said of Harbhajan's comment that Hayden is not very popular worldwide. “He is one of the most well respected people in our team. That's all that interests me.”

And what of the summer itself? “There's been a lot on,” he conceded, “a lot of issues. I haven't played in too many summers where any number of issues has constantly been there. It's been tough work for everybody.”