Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) was an Australian cricket commentator and former player. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman who along with Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist contributed greatly to Australia's success in Test cricket and ODIs during the Australian cricket’s ‘Golden Era’ (2004-2011). It is widely acknowledged that he is among the world's best openers and he holds the record for the highest score by an Australian batsman, 380 against Zimbabwe.
Hayden's career also had a golden period from 2001 to 2005, during which he crossed 1000 runs every year.
| Born: 29th October 1971 | Nationality: Australian |
| Years Active: 1993-2009 | Birth Place: Kingaroy, Australia |
| Height: 6 ft 2 in | Role: Batsman |
| Batting Style: Left-handed | Bowling Style: Right-arm Medium |
| Nickname: Haydos, Unit |
Matthew Hayden was born on 29 October 1971 to Laurie Hayden (father) and Moya Hayden (mother). His father was a farmer and his mother was a homemaker.
Matthew Hayden got married to Kellie Hayden on 5th March 2005. They have three beautiful children; Grace Hayden (daughter), Joshua Hayden (son), and Thomas Hayden (son).
He was born and raised in Kingaroy, a county in Queensland. His cricket career began at an early age when he played with his brother and neighborhood friends at his family farm.
At the age of 19, Hayden made his Queensland First-Class debut. As a debutant, he smashed 149 against South Australia. Later in 1991, Hayden played against the touring West Indians in his first List A match. His innings ended with 49 runs, but he had made a mark.
Furthermore, Hayden played the Sheffield Shield (First-class cricket tournament in Australia) for Queensland County, where he scored 8831 runs at an average of 54.85 in 101 matches.
On 19 May 1993, Hayden made his ODI debut against England. It was a close match, but the Aussies won it by just four runs, thanks to his 29 valuable runs.
A year later, on 4th March 1994, he made his much-anticipated Test debut against South Africa, scoring 15 runs. The Australians were hammered by 197 runs.
Eventually, he was dropped from the team. As a young professional, he was unable to secure a permanent position.
During the 2001 series against India, Hayden silenced those who criticized his technical abilities and playing spot. As a result of his impressive performances of 100+ runs in that series, Australia managed to defeat the Indian team. For the Australians, Hayden and Justin Langer formed a formidable opening partnership.
He scored his best knock against Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe team was hammered by his mammoth 380 runs in Perth. During that time, he reached 20 international centuries in 50 games.
There are ups and downs to every athlete's career and Matthew Hayden's was no exception. There have been a few big controversies surrounding him. Here are the controversies:
At the 2003 New Year Test Match Series against England in Sydney, he smashed a pavilion window out of anger when the umpire gave him out. This behavior led to him being fined.
Matthew Hayden witnessed the fallout from the 'monkey-gate' incident that occurred between Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh during the Australian series against India in 2008. During this incident, Hayden used offensive words against Harbhajan Singh. This incident cost him; he was charged by the Australian Cricket Association for violating their code of conduct.
The highest run total, 380 runs, was scored by an Australian batsman against Zimbabwe in a single Test inning.
The second-highest run-scorer as an opening batsman after West Indies batsman Brian Lara with 400 runs in a Test match.
A record of 100 runs in each inning of a Test match.
Consecutive 50s in nine matches.
Ranked as the fastest player to score 5000 runs in 95 innings.
Hayden retired from International cricket on January 13, 2009. The Achilles heel problem played a major role in his decision to retire. In the history of the game, he was one of the best openers. At the end of his international career, he had 15016 runs at an average of 47.45 for an international career.
After retiring, Hayden became a commentator on Channel 9. Currently, he is coaching the Pakistan National Team and under his supervision, the team did well at the T20 World Cup 2022.
| ODI | |
|---|---|
| Matches: 161 | Runs Scored: 6133 |
| Batting Average: 43.81 | Top Score: 181 |
| 200/100/50: 0/10/36 | Wickets: 0 |
| T20 | |
|---|---|
| Matches: 9 | Runs Scored: 308 |
| Batting Average: 51.33 | Top Score: 73 |
| 200/100/50: 0/0/4 | Wickets: 0 |
| Test | |
|---|---|
| Matches: 103 | Runs Scored: 8625 |
| Batting Average: 50.74 | Top Score: 380 |
| 200/100/50: 2/30/29 | Wickets:0 |
Sachin Tendulkar of India fields during the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup Group B match between India and the Netherlands at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on March 9, 2011 in Delhi, India.
Sachin Tendulkar of India raises his bat on scoring his century during the Group B ICC World Cup Cricket match between India and South Africa at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground on March 12, 2011 in Nagpur, India.
Sachin Tendulkar of India hits out watched by wicketkeeper Matt Prior of England during day five of the 4th npower Test Match between England and India at The Kia Oval on August 22, 2011 in London, England.
Sachin Tendulkar reach the iconic landmark of 100 international centuries against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in 2012
Sachin's first Test century
Sachin Tendulkar’s dream to hold the World Cup in his hands and in 2011 it finally happened.
