That certainly doesn't help... but do you really think Gilchrist would have played the same way if he'd been facing Trueman on a greentop with the ball being swung both ways and seaming off the pitch? Moreover... whilst the ridiculous sweet spot would ensure edges had the legs to reach the boundary... do you think he could have controlled the direction and trajectory of the ball? I doubt he'd have survived long with ANY bat.

The modern batsman with a game perfectly suited to playing against that sort of bowling is Jayawardene... who gave a masterclass in battling that sort of bowling last time Sri Lanka toured England. I'm not sure what sort of bat he used... but I don't think it would have made much difference to him.

ps. The shortness of the grass on the outfield is just as bad as the modern bat: the days of fielders standing a chance of chasing a ball down are long gone.