Flintoff is the target for Indian revolution

The all-rounder, recovering from a fourth operation on his left ankle, had decided that the tour with England's second string had come a little too soon.

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But such is his progress that he is now hopeful of flying to India in the next few days to play for the Lions solely as a batsman. Once on the sub-continent, Flintoff can be expected to be made financial offers which will become harder and harder to turn down.

Flintoff, 30, is the first English player to be approached by the Indian Premier League, the officially sanctioned 20-over competition that will begin in April and threatens to change the face of the sport, such are the riches on offer.

So lucrative are the deals coming out of India for the world's top players that Adam Gilchrist decided to bring forward his international retirement to ensure he could accept a deal said to be worth £400,000 for eight weeks' work.

Gilchrist, one of cricket's truly iconic figures, retires from the fiveday game at the end of Australia's final Test against India in Adelaide today four caps short of 100. Once he has fulfilled a final one-day commitment to Australia in March, he will spearhead the launch of the richest event cricket has known.

The feeling that England created a monster when they gave Twenty20 to the world was confirmed last week when 10-year global television rights to the IPL were sold for more than £500million.

An auction for the eight IPL franchises, conducted in India on Friday, brought in another £300m and Gilchrist is sure to be joined by other big names from around the world, providing they can marry it with their domestic commitments.

That clash — the inaugural competition runs in April and May — has ruled out English players up until now but the first tentative tapping up of Flintoff is sure to be followed by face-to-face charm offensives in cricket's most powerful and wealthy country if and when he joins up with the Lions.

And while England's talisman is devoting all his energies to attempting to prove he still has a future as a genuine international all-rounder, the opportunity to earn huge amounts for a commitment to Twenty20 cricket, which demands less of his fragile body, will surely be tempting.

For now it is the Australians, 18 months away from the next Ashes series, who are suffering most from the new competition. Gilchrist made no mention of the IPL when he made his surprise announcement on Saturday but is that, more than the first signs of his immense powers waning, what prompted him to turn his back on the chance of earning 100 Baggy Green caps and play on towards one last Ashes series?

Gilchrist joins 2006-7 Ashes winners Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn in retirement. Might Matthew Hayden be next once he digests what is on offer to his erstwhile team-mate Gilchrist in India?

Gilchrist began his final day as a Test cricketer with Australia apparently in good shape to clinch the series against India. Centuries by Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke took the Aussies to 563 all out. By the time India closed day four on 45 for one, they led by only eight runs and seemed to have no chance of clawing back their 2-1 deficit.

The timing of Gilchrist' s announcement will take nothing away from his standing as one of the truly great players the game has known, more for the destructive batting that saw him become the only man to hit 100 sixes in Test cricket than his perfectly competent keeping.

What is more, he will be remembered as one of the nicest and most dignified men to ever play cricket. Gilchrist was providing insightful columns for Sportsmail throughout the summer of 2005 and when Australian fortunes were at their lowest after they lost the Ashes at The Oval, I met him to discuss his final piece.

Job done with his usual utter professionalism, Gilchrist left our meeting ahead of me to rejoin his family and when I went to pay for the food and drinks we had consumed, I discovered he had already paid for everything. Not many sportsmen do things like that.

What was not widely known was that Gilchrist never really got on with Shane Warne despite their prolific partnership and Gilchrist's constant urgings of 'bowling Shane' from behind the stumps which tortured many a pair of English ears.

The two men were simply complete opposites in the way they conducted their lives but put aside their differences to come together and play huge parts in making Australia the greatest team the game has known.

Cricket will be the poorer for the retirement of Adam Gilchrist but he can be expected to become an articulate media voice on the game. Once he has made himself a very wealthy man by leading the IPL revolution, that is.