Ashes Heroes No 41: Matthew Hayden

We are a fifth of the way through our weekly countdown of the men who made the Ashes what it is, so here is a reminder of the list so far: 50 Gary Pratt; 49 Ken Barrington; 48 Chris Broad; 47 Richie Benaud; 46 Frank Tyson; 45 Craig McDermott; 44 Bill O'Reilly; 43 Andrew Flintoff and 42 Charlie Macartney. With the score standing 5-4 to England, it is an Australian who steps in at No 41 and who may yet have a few more Ashes stories to write.

Matthew Hayden has been around for ever, right? Those steely eyes, those beefcake forearms, that unbreachable forward defensive have been withstanding England bowlers since time immemorial. Or at least for a decade or so.

How the memory plays tricks. Assuming that Hayden makes it to the starting gate at Cardiff next summer, it will mark 15 years since his Test debut. Only Sachin Tendulkar of present batsmen has been playing for longer. Yet it will only be Hayden's third Test series in England.

In 1993, the 21-year-old Hayden was picked for Australia's tour party to England on the back of a couple of excellent Sheffield Shield seasons. He was travelling for the experience but on that tour he played 13 first-class county matches (ah, those were the days...), scored 1,150 runs at an average of 57.55 and yet DID NOT PLAY AN ASHES TEST FOR ANOTHER EIGHT YEARS.

Sorry about the capital letters, but I was gobsmacked when I found that out. In England, if a youngster showed promise on a tour, he would be in the Test side within a wink and then dropped, his career broken, a few months later. In Australia, being good enough is not good enough. You must have the maturity and strength of character to make it before you are selected. After all, it was only county sides that he was taking runs off. In 1997, Hayden wasn't even in the Ashes touring squad.

Hayden did get a Test debut, against South Africa, in early 1994, but after making 15 and five, he was sent back to Queensland for a year and a half. Recalled in 1996 against West Indies, he made his first hundred in his fifth Test innings and added a couple of forties against South Africa the next spring but was dropped again, this time for three years. Such was the school of hard knocks that was Australian Test cricket in the 1990s: hard to break into, even harder to impress your team-mates, but once you had made it you were in for good.

Would it rouse howls of anger from Down Under to claim that it was a few years learning about his game in English county cricket that turned Hayden into the run-scoring machine he would become? Possibly. After all, waiting for Mark Taylor, Michael Slater and Matthew Elliott to retire also had something to do with his long spell in the wings. And his eventual Test record in England suggests that he never quite got to grips with conditions here. But in other countries (OK, in England) a player would have got disillusioned if they had to spend almost their entire twenties waiting for their chance.

Hayden didn't brood or let his game fade. A proud Christian, he had faith that patience was a virtue and that his time would come. And while he waited, he accumulated. In 1997, he averaged 54 playing for Hampshire while his countrymen were winning the Ashes. In 1999 and 2000, he twice averaged 57 playing for Northamptonshire. He continued to build centuries, albeit not as prolifically as before, for Queensland.

The tour to India in 2001 was the making of him. In three Tests, he had first-innings scores of 119, 97 and 203. In the series, he made 539 runs at an average of 110. That massive success earned him the faith of the selectors and a place for the next seven years, before injury curtailed his run in the West Indies this year.

Yet his first Ashes series, in 2001, was modest, with only one fifty, but with his efforts in 2002-03 he started to turn potential into big scores. At Brisbane, put in by Nasser Hussain, he led Australia's punishment of the touring side with 197 in the first innings and 103 in the second. England might not have trailed in that first Test if they had got Hayden out earlier. His two innings put Hussain's side under intolerable pressure from Day 1. They were bowled out for 79 in the fourth innings and the series was effectively over. Hayden scored another hundred in the fourth Test as Australia went to a 4-0 lead.

It is odd that having established himself as such a force at the top of the Australia innings, Hayden's second Test series in England should also be poor. The 2005 Ashes began with Hayden being castled by Hoggard for 12 at Lord's and it wasn't until the Oval that he made a hundred. He struggled with the swing that England were getting, but even so he almost turned the series Australia's way with that opening stand of 185 with Langer. If only Warne had caught Pietersen...

Yet again, a poor series in England was followed by a decent one in Australia. There was no shortage of Australians queuing up for revenge in the 2006-07 series and Hayden was a little slow to make his mark, but come the third Test his second innings of 92 provided the platform for the middle order to construct a huge match and series-winning total. In the next Test, he almost outscored the entire England XI on his own. The touring side made 159 and Hayden made 153. In the final Test, he hit the winning runs to deliver a 5-0 series win.

It is true that Hayden's position in this list is owed more to indvidual moments of brilliance - as well as overall impression - than to an oustanding series record. His Ashes record at home (909 runs at 57) is more attuned to his overall averages than his record in England (552 runs at 35). His position is also based on the overall impression he leaves, given that this list is partly based on statistics and partly on the recommendations of the experts we have consulted in forming this list, whose top tens accompany each entry. Perhaps his achievements as a slip fielder - the dismissal ct Hayden bld Warne happened 13 times in Ashes Tests - have also embellished his reputation.

Hayden needs a good Ashes series in England to right a few blips in his overall record, but one thing is certain: England will be relieved when he is gone. As a keen chef, who has produced two cookery books, Hayden no doubt has a couple more recipes he wants to try out on the Poms first.

(all pics: Getty)

Comments

[Peter McGuinness]

There are rare players who cannot be fully appreciated until they are seen live rather than on TV.

Hayden is such a player.

With his towering physique and 'half a yard down the pitch stance', being side on at the ground gives one some insight into the unseemly task facing any quick bowler with the new ball. Sporting a complete game on both sides of the wicket, the sheer brutal power applied to even the most elegant looking stroke can only be fully appreciated live.

Players say that the ball sounds 'different' when exploding from Hayden's bat, and if you've seen him often enough live, you know there's truth to the yarn. It's more the boom of heavy artillery than the crack of a whip.

The contest is always absorbing with the big fella at the crease. He gives the very, very best bowling a chance in a precise off-corridor, but anything less than perfection is pulverised. Lesser bowlers frequently have their best deliveries thundered away by an imperious blast which is - usually - a text book cricket stroke.

Like all the greats, he has routinely made short work of the shorter forms, firing on 2 cylinders and still superb. His game is beautifully balanced to compliment the genuine contest of Test Matches. As revered as he is, Australians will appreciate him even more after retirement, because there is no duplicating a Matthew Hayden and his singular combination of attributes.

[SouthernWaratah]

I just thought I should correct Slat’s stats from that test and add a few others….

Slater scored 123 out of Australia's 184 runs (66.85%) - the second highest percentage of runs by a batsman in a Test innings (record 67.35%, C Bannerman, Aus v Eng 1876-77)

D Gough 3/61 included hat-trick (Healy, MacGill, Miller). 23rd hat-trick in Tests, first at Sydney since 1891-92.

Day 1 Attendance: 42,124 (sellout). Biggest Test crowd at the SCG since January 3, 1976 (53001, Day 1 v WI), and the biggest since ground capacity was reduced in the 1980's.
Stewart was GD McGrath's 200th Test wicket - the 10th Australian to reach that milestone.
Day 2 Hussain was ME Waugh's 100th Test catch & Crawley was MA Taylor's 156th Test catch + Day 4 Taylor's catch of Ramprakash was his 157th in Tests, passing Border's world record outright.

[Southern Waratah]

It needs to be remembered that one M.Slater kept him out of the side from 93 on. I dare say he will figure in this list at some stage. Remember SCG 98'99 Slat's hit 160 odd in innings total of 180 in the second innings. Gough took a hat trick, McGrath his 200th and MacGill 12 for the match. What a test!

[donthaveaclue]

Hayden has established himself as one of the most dominant batsmen in world cricket. However, there are a few others who have been even more fearsome in their obliteration of oppositions over the years. I have complied my list on the url in the comment.

[Michael McLennan]

Inspirational - a boy from the bush who toughed it out and made good!

Imagine if he'd been in the Test team from '93 - there would be a few world records with his name against them!