“Adam is extremely talented and we hope to have him back next season,” said Richmond captain Chris Goldie of Adam Gilchrist in 1989 after his side lifted the Middlesex County League title.

“He is keen to return, but has exams to sit in Australia. His future with us will not be known for a while.”

Famous last words.

The legendary Australian wicket keeper batsman never played again for Goldie’s men, but on June 15 he will play a competitive match at Old Deer Park for the first time in nearly 21-years.

He smashed 2,700 runs for Richmond in all competitions as a 17-year-old, before going on to change the face of cricket forever.

The 38-year-old never got the chance to return as he went on to score 5,570 Test runs and claim 416 Test dismissals in an international career spanning a decade.

Gilchrist has signed to play five games at Lord’s for Middlesex in the Friends Provident T20, but - having graced the game’s greatest stages - it is the prospect of playing at Kew Road that gives him the most pleasure.

“I wasn’t contractually down to play, but I jumped out of my skin when I saw there was a game at Old Deer Park,” he said last week.

The reason? Because his time in west London was such a pivotal year for the then U17 international, in tasting life as a professional.

“I learned a lot about cricket, about my own game and the different conditions. I probably didn’t appreciate how much I was learning away from the game as well,” he continued.

“That was of paramount importance for my ability to cope with the lifestyle of a professional cricketer, the touring and knowing when you can and can’t enjoy things.”

Gilchrist says he didn’t have a great season - if you can call 15 centuries in a summer underwhelming - but one thing in particular does stick out.

“I came over the year after Dean Waugh - Mark and Steve’s younger brother - broke every run scoring record in the book,” he added.

“I eclipsed that in everything except the league, which was the important stuff.

“I didn’t have a particularly great season. I only got one century in the league against Brondesbury, who had Dilip Doshi playing for them that day.

“Spending some time against an ex-Test cricketer was the highlight of my career at that time.”

The youngster, who played as an opening bat with current Richmond chairman Goldie behind the stumps, combined living in Twickenham with playing 75 cricket matches in 150 days that summer.

“It was pretty intense. I was doing my final year at school and managing to play all that cricket. Not to mention dealing with the never ending pint glass.

For the record, Gilchrist’s 522 league runs helped Richmond win the league crown on the final day of the season when they drew with Southgate as second-placed Teddington lost to Brondesbury.