Hayden ready to solve Aussie batters’ spin woes
WITH the Australian batters failing miserably in the first two Tests of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, former opener Matthew Hayden has offered to help the tourists solve their batting woes in India.
Hayden, who was the Pakistan cricket team’s mentor for the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup, is in India as a commentator for official broadcaster Star Sports and has no formal involvement with the touring side.
However, on Tuesday he told the Sydney Morning Herald he was 100% ready to help the Australian batters who have produced scores of 177, 91 and 262 and 113 in four innings in India so far, with Usman Khawaja being the only Australian batter to score a half-century so far.
Hayden told The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald “100%, at any time of the day or night, it is given that myself – and I’m sure I speak for anyone else that I represent that would have that kind of influence – would 100% be in”.
“Any time I have been asked to do anything I’ve always said yes at any time of day,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
Hayden told the newspapers he would “definitely not” charge Cricket Australia (CA) for his time but wanted the governing body to give current players access to the previous generation.
“You can’t alienate them,” Hayden said. “If you want the crème de la crème, the very least you can do is respect them. There should be a system if you’re in the CA role, how do we get the intellectual property in our players? That’s the key.”
Hayden, part of Australia’s golden generation that included players such as Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, boasts a healthy Test record in India, averaging 51.35 in 11 Tests with two centuries and five 50s.
He was part of the Australian team led by Gilchrist that ended a three-decade-long wait to win the series in India in 2004.