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Matthew Hayden

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Matthew Hayden
Source: [1], March 31 2007

Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October, 1971 in Kingaroy, Queensland) is an Australian and Queensland cricketer.

Cricket Career

Hayden (nicknames: Haydos, Unit) is a powerful and aggressive left hand opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels. He is particularly proficient when hitting down the ground. Hayden currently holds the records for the highest scores made by an Australian batsman in both the Test (380) and One Day International (181 not out) arenas.[2] He formed one of the most fearsome opening partnerships in world cricket for Australia with Justin Langer.

Test Career

Hayden debuted for the Australian team in the 1994 March 4-8th test match against South Africa in Johannesburg, scoring 15 and 5 [1]. After this Test his next Test selection was in the 1996/7 season, with 3 tests each against the West Indies and South Africa. Although he made his debut century (125 against WI in Adelaide) his average of 21.7 was not enough to keep his position in a star-packed Australian side, and in particular openers Mark Taylor and Michael Slater. He was dropped from the team, and it appeared his international career was over.

During these years Hayden was a prolific batsman for the Queensland first-class cricket team. Weight of domestic cricket runs and persistence resulted in a resurrection of his international career for the 1999/2000 tour of New Zealand. In the subsequent 2000/1 tour of India he averaged a Bradmanesque 109.80 with 539 runs from the 3 test series. Since then he has been an automatic selection for the Test side.

In 2001 he scored a then Australian record of 1391 runs in Test matches in one calendar year, and subsequently won the Allan Border Medal as the best Australian player of the year. Hayden scored over 1000 Test runs in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 & 2005, the first man to achieve the feat five times. Hayden was selected as one of Wisden's five 2003 Cricketers of the Year. He briefly held the world record for the highest Test score, 380, which he scored at the WACA against Zimbabwe on 10 October 2003. Brian Lara of the West Indies reclaimed the record with 400 not out against England on April 12, 2004. Of note, at the commencement of 2006 he had the fourth highest conversion rate (Test centuries scored per Test played) in history, behind only Bradman, George Headley and Clyde Walcott.

ODI

Hayden also played in the Australian side that won the 2003 One Day International Cricket World Cup. During a general form slump in the 2004/5 season he lost his position in the One-day International team to Michael Clarke. Due to player rotation and injuries he reclaimed his position during the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy tournament in Malaysia. To March 2007 he is averaging 56 with 4 centuries.

On February 20th 2007, Matthew Hayden posted his highest ODI score (181 not out) against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton. Australia posted 346 for 5 wickets and New Zealand replied with 350 for 9 wickets and won the Chappel-Hadlee series 3-0.

UK County

Hayden has played in the UK County Championship, first with Hampshire in 1997 and prominently as captain of Northamptonshire in 1999-2000.

Trivia

  • In 2000, Hayden's boat capsized whilst sailing near North Stradbroke Island; he and his two companions (one of whom was Queensland and Australian teammate Andrew Symonds) were forced to swim over a kilometre to safety. [3]
  • In his spare time, Hayden is a keen cook and occasionally prepares meals for his team-mates while on tour. A collection of his recipes was published in Australia in 2004 as The Matthew Hayden Cookbook. A second book, The Matthew Hayden Cookbook 2, was published in 2006.
  • Hayden uses a Gray-Nicholls bat with a fluorescent pink grip, to highlight and support research into a cure for breast cancer. This is at least in part inspired by his team-mate Glenn McGrath's wife struggle with this illness. [2]
  • Hayden is a devout Catholic and says "When I’m in trouble, I ask: ‘What would Christ do?" [4]
Matthew Hayden's career performance graph.

Template:Australian batsmen with a Test batting average above 50

Preceded by Allan Border Medal winner
2002 		Succeeded by

Template:Persondata

  1. ^ http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/player/5616.html
  2. ^ http://www.gnsports.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=546&Itemid=122
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