Dan link said:
He's only a tick over 30 and he is leaps and bounds ahead of the next keeper.
Haddin's glovework is probably superior to Gilly's at this stage in their careers and his batting very, very good as well.
Haddin can hold the spot for 3-4 years and hopefully in that time one of the other talented young keepers (Ronchi, Crosthwaite - the Victorian one, Tim Paine, maybe Hartley will finally reach his potential etc) will step up and keep the pressure on him.
It would be especially good if it was Paine/Crosthwaite. Both in their early 20s, Hartley might be a bit older, he's certainly been around for a few years now. But if they kick on as Cricket Australia hope then they'll be 27/28 by the time Haddin is nearing the end of his Test career (mid 30s) so they'll have plenty of time ahead of them and should be in the prime of their careers.
On Gilly though - fantastic player, a great role model for Australian sporting kids and one of the greatest players of the modern era, if not history. Australia will miss his leadership more than anything at this stage in his career. If I was being honest I would actually say that Haddin has been the better player of the two for probably the past 12-18 months, but Gilly held a leadership role in the side, as well as his potential to do the incredible (such as that astonishing knock in Perth against the Poms last Ashes tour).
Enjoy retirement Gilly - you've given Australian cricket plenty of great service. I just wish you'd stayed with NSW and we'd dumped Phil Emrie - you probably would've played Test cricket two years earlier (due to the whole get a baggygreen with your baggyblue thing....).