HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW HAYDEN! Since it is Matthew Hayden’s birthday, I’ll be writing about his entire career and also a bit about him and a bit about his personal life. Let’s start the post!
BRIEFLY ABOUT MATTHEW HAYDEN:
Matthew Hayden, born Matthew Lawrence Hayden was born on 29 October 1971, is a current cricket commentator and a former Australian opener. His career spanned 15 years. Matthew Hayden was present in Australia’s GOLDEN ERA, which lasted from 2004 to 2011. Australia, as we know, was indestructible in the 2000s. They were a strong team with legendary players like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Jr, Michael Hussey, the man himself, Matthew Hayden, and many more. Matthew Hayden was a brilliant batsman for the Aussies, and without him, Adam Gilchrist etc., seeing an Australia match was nearly impossible.
Matthew Hayden also had the world record for the highest Test score by an individual batsman (380 VS ZIM, 2003) until the West Indies legend Brian Lara broke his record by scoring what may be the greatest inning in the History of cricket, of course, I am talking about the 400 run inning.
Matthew Hayden played the IPL (Indian Premier League) for the first 3 seasons and then retired. He played for the Chennai Super Kings under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy. In the BBL (Big Bash League), he played for Brisbane Heat. Matthew Hayden was also inducted into the ICC Hall Of Fame in 2017. Matthew Hayden never left the cricketing world, after retiring he became a commentator, and in September 2021, he was appointed as the Pakistan cricket team’s batting coach for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. He will again join Pakistan for this year’s T20 World Cup, which will be happening in his homeland, Australia. Matthew Hayden’s nickname is Haydos.
First-Class Career:
Matthew Hayden was born in Queensland, so he even played for Queensland in first-class cricket. He played Sheffield Field cricket for Queensland, played 101 matches, scoring 8831 runs at an average of 54.85. He even played in the English County Championship, first with the Hampshire cricket team and then prominently with Northamptonshire as their captain from 1999-2000. His county record- 3461 runs at 55.82. His total county cricket runs are 24,603 at a superb average of 52.57.
Franchise Cricket:
As we know, Matthew Hayden played for CSK in the Indian Premier League. In the auction, they bought him in the first edition of the IPL for a good 375,000$. Matthew Hayden was a regular CSK player until 2010. In the 2009 edition of the IPL, he won the orange cap (The reward you get for scoring the most runs in the entire season). Matthew Hayden announced in 2010 that he would use the Mongoose Bat (Mongoose bat is a short blade-long handle bat, which increases your bat speed and helps you generate a lot of power while hitting the ball). Stuart Law said he would think ‘twice’ before using the Mongoose, while MS Dhoni said in his column that he believed in Hayden’s ability ‘no matter what he uses. Matthew Hayden resigned from his Queensland and Australian Cricket Board positions to play for Brisbane heat in the first edition of the Big Bash League (The T20 franchise league in Australia).
International Cricket:
Test Cricket:
Matthew Hayden was picked along with Michael Slater for the 1993 Tour Of England, but Slater performed better than Matthew Hayden and was picked in the team. Matthew Hayden played a single test in the 4–8 March 1994 Test Match against South Africa in Johannesburg, scoring 15 and 5, filling in for an injured Taylor.
After two years, Hayden was again selected to play against West Indies and South Africa; he made his maiden Test Century (125 runs) against the West Indies in Adelaide but averaged only 24.1 over the six tests, including four ducks. He was dropped from the team, as the selectors favoured other openers, initially Taylor and Matthew Elliott, then later Slater and Greg Blewett, for the next few years. At the time, he was compared occasionally to Graeme Hick, a fine domestic performer but not quite good enough to make it at the highest level.
During these years, Matthew Hayden became a prolific batsman for the Queensland Cricket Team, and because of this, he was selected for the New Zealand tour in 2000. Even though he didn’t perform great, he was selected for the India tour in 2001, where he hit a record 549 runs in just 3 test matches. This record hasn’t been broken until now. He scored over 1,000 Test runs in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005, the first man to achieve the feat five times. He was selected as one of Wisden’s five 2003 Cricketers of the Year.
On 10th October 2003, we saw one of the greatest innings in Test Cricket. Matthew Hayden scored a brilliant 380* against Zimbabwe, a world record until the West Indies batting legend Brian Lara broke the record by scoring a mammoth 400*. Before Matthew Hayden scored 380, Brian Lara only had the record. He scored a massive 375.
Hayden suffered a considerable form slump towards the end of 2004 and went for sixteen consecutive tests without scoring a century. This form slump continued into the 2005 Ashes, where Matthew Hayden failed to score above 40 runs in the first 4 tests, but in the 5th test, he scored 138 out of 303 balls, which arguably saved his position in the team. Again in the 2006/2007 Ashes series, his form took a slight dip when in the first 3 innings of the test, he didn’t cross 40 runs but regained his form by scoring a good 92 in Perth and then scoring another fantastic 153 in the boxing day test.
The 2008–09 season was Hayden’s final season of Test cricket. In nine Tests against India, New Zealand and South Africa, Hayden managed only 383 runs at 23.94, with two half-centuries and three ducks. His career ended when he was dropped from the ODI Australian team. Soon after, Hayden announced his retirement from all international and first-class cricket before the tour of South Africa in 2008–09. His place was filled by young New South Wales opener Phillip Hughes. He finished his test career with 8625 runs at an average of 50.73.
ODI CRICKET:
Hayden played as an opening batsman in the Australian team in 160 One-Day Internationals throughout his career. He made his ODI debut for Australia in 1993 against England, but after playing 13 ODIs in 1993 and 1994, he was dropped from the team until 2000. He then returned to the squad, and after that, he was a regular name until his retirement.
Matthew Hayden was a part of Australia’s world cup winning side in 2003 and 2007. He was dropped from the ODI squad because of poor form after The Ashes in 2005 but returned to the Australian squad in the 2006–07 Australian season after Simon Katich was dropped and Shane Watson was injured. Matthew Hayden was indestructible in 2007, and he was one of the main reasons why Australia won the world cup that year. He was named ODI player of the year and made the World ODI XI by ICC.
He played one last ODI season in 2008, and his last match was the 2nd final of the Commonwealth Bank Series against India.
Twenty20 Internationals:
Matthew Hayden just played 9 T20 Internationals for Australia, including the ICC T20 World Cup 2007, the first edition of the world cup. He hit a brilliant 265 runs in the world cup, and in total, he hit 308 runs in T20Is with an average of 51.33 when retiring.
International retirement:
Matthew Hayden officially retired from International cricket on January 13th, 2009. With 30 Tests and 10 ODI centuries, Hayden is considered one of the best Australian openers of his era. He also scored 29 Test, 36 ODI and three T20I half-centuries. He is possibly the best ever-opening batsman Australia has ever produced.
Post Retirement:
Hayden, post-retirement, has been working with Cricket Australia to raise the cricket profile among Australia’s indigenous population. In 2010 he captained the Indigenous All-Stars against the ACA Masters XI. He also after retiring became a commentator, and in September 2021, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed him as Pakistan’s Head coach for the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. Even this year, he will join Pakistan’s camp as a mentor.
Personal Life and Beyond Cricket:
Matthew Hayden was a great cook. He had his cookbook called The Matthew Hayden Cookbook. There was a second edition of this book called The Matthew Hayden Cookbook 2. The first edition was released in 2004, and the second was released in 2006. Matthew Hayden used a Gray-Nicolls bat with a fluorescent pink grip. This was inspired by the Australian Legend Glenn McGrath’s wife, was one of the victims of Breast Caner, so to support the women who are suffering from Breast Cancer he batted with the pink grip on. Matthew Hayden supported the Marines a lot. Hayden is an Ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. Matthew Hayden is married to Kellie and has three children.
Matthew Hayden is a Roman Catholic and said When I’m in trouble, I ask: ‘What would Christ do, when he was asked about the Modern Society He also routinely crossed himself on the field after reaching a century When he was asked about faith in modern society, Hayden said, “I think it’s very challenging to live as a Christian, or any sort of religion, in terms of modern day society. I think it’s very difficult as a young adult, and I think I really struggled with that over a long period of time”.
Matthew Hayden’s Top Records:
These are 5 of Matthew Hayden’s Top Records:
- Most runs in an innings (by batting position) (380)
- Most hundreds in a series (3)
- Hundred in each innings of a match
- 5000 runs and 50 fielding dismissals
- Dismissed for 99 (and 199, 299 etc.)
In total, we can say that Matthew Hayden is a complete player. He has had his bit of ups and downs. He has been dropped from the team and hailed as one of the GOATS. Matthew Hayden is undoubtedly one of the greatest players Australia has given birth to.
Thank You, Matthew Hayden, for all the wonderful innings and memories you have given us! Have a great Birthday and a fantastic year ahead! Cheers mate! Enjoy!
Hey guys, hope you have enjoyed reading the post!
Until Next Time!
Bye!
Thank You!
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