30 Facts about Matthew Hayden - The humongous hitter

30 Facts about Matthew Hayden – The humongous hitter: A strong-built left-hander, an intimidating personality and an aggressive attitude, Australian Matthew Hayden had all the ingredients that made him successful in international cricket. Those very ingredients shaped the next 17 years of this talented cricketer’s illustrious career. The burly southpaw’s presence at the crease was enough to intimidate his opponents. Hayden’s mental as well as physical strength was something that he used to its optimum on the field. An attacking batsman on the front foot, the Queenslander was a regular member of the slip cordon and made a fine catcher in the gully position. With over 8000 runs at an average above 50 he dismissed all those who labeled him as a one-day specialist.

1. Birth:

Matthew Hayden was born on 29 October 1971, in Queensland Australia.

2. Disastrous debut:

Debuting against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1994 and up against a lineup that included Allan Donald, Fanie de Villiers, Craig Mathews and Brian McMillan, Matthew Hayden found the attack too hot to handle and was promptly dropped from the squad.

3. Debut century on an average tour:

Matthew Hayden made his maiden century (125 against the West Indies at Adelaide) but averaged only 21.7 for the series with two ducks.

4. Dropped:

Matthew Hayden was dropped from the team, after a wretched tour of South Africa as the selectors favoured other openers, in particular, Mark Taylor and Matthew Elliott, for the next few years.

5. Queensland:

Matthew Hayden was a prolific batsman for the Queensland first-class cricket team. playing 101 matches, and scored 8831 runs at an average of 54.85.

6. The breakthrough tour:

During Australia’s 2001 tour of India, he made himself a permanent member of the team. Australia lost a close series 2-1, but Hayden had an outstanding tour, scoring 549 runs at an average of 109.8 in three Tests.

7. Home ground laurels:

In front of his home Brisbane crowd, he scored 197 and 103 in the first 2002-03 Ashes Test, the match in which Nasser Hussain famously invited Australia to bat.

8. Amazing:

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.

9. World record:

In the first innings of the first Test against Zimbabwe on 10 October 2003 at the WACA, Matthew Hayden scored 380 runs from only 437 balls to set a new world record for an individual Test innings, passing the previous record of Brian Lara (375), set in April 1994. Lara though again surpassed the feat later in April 2004.

10. The slump:

Matthew Hayden suffered a considerable form-slump towards the end of 2004 and went for sixteen consecutive Tests without scoring a century. This continued into the highly anticipated 2005 Ashes, where Hayden averaged only 35.33 across the five matches.

11. The fantastic return to form:

A hard-fought 138 from 303 balls in the fifth Test at The Oval in 2005 Ashes signaled a return to form for Hayden for the 2005/06 season, and he scored centuries in four consecutive Tests

12. Swinging fortunes:

Hayden’s form in the 2006-07 Ashes series against England was average; he failed to reach 40 in the first three innings of the series, but again returned to form with scores of 92 in Perth, and 153 in the Boxing Day Test.

13. Overhauling Bradman:

Matthew Hayden performed well in the 2007–2008 summer against India, aggregating over 400 runs with three centuries in the 4-Test series, to bring his career total to 30 centuries and broke Bradman’s record.

14. The final season:

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.

15. Retirement:

His career ended when he was dropped from the Australian ODI team after 2008. Matthew Hayden retired from all forms of cricket in September 2012.

16. World Cup success:

Matthew Hayden was part of the World Cup winning Australian squads of 2003 and 2007.

17. Best ODI score:

In February 2007, Matthew Hayden posted his highest ODI score (181 not out) against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton. It was the highest ODI innings ever by an Australian

18. The best batsman of 2007 World Cup:

Matthew Hayden dominated the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies as the tournament’s best batsman, scoring three centuries and also became only the second player in World Cup history to surpass 600 runs in a single tournament; he scored 659 runs for the tournament at an average of 73.22

19. T20I career:

Matthew Hayden played nine Twenty20 Internationals for Australia, including the 2007 ICC World Twenty20. He was the tournament’s top scorer, with 265 runs.

20. IPL:

Matthew Hayden played for the Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) in April 2008, contracted for $375,000. He became one of the foremost players in the league, and in 2009 won the Orange Cap as the season’s highest run-scorer, with 572 runs.

21. Controversy:

In the 2003 New Year’s Test in Sydney against England, Hayden smashed a pavilion window in anger, after disagreeing with an umpire’s decision to give him out. He was fined for this incident.

Watch: The most famous blow-ups in Cricket

22. The fabulous combination:

Hayden’s most notable opening batting partner was Justin Langer. The opening pair represented Australia in more than 100 Test innings and 5654 runs while batting together in opening partnerships.

23. ICC awards:

Matthew Hayden was Australia’s Test Player of the Year in 2002, ODI Player of the Year in 2008 and ICC’s ODI Player of the Year in 2007.

24. Career in numbers:

Hayden’s record – 8,625 runs at an average of 50.73 in 103 Tests and 6,133 runs at 43.80 in one-dayers is outstanding.

25. Surviving a scare:

In 2000, Hayden’s boat capsized near North Stradbroke Island; he and his two companions (one of whom was Queensland and Australian teammate Andrew Symonds) were forced to swim a kilometre to safety. Hayden subsequently appeared in a campaign promoting marine safety.

26. A good Chef:

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.

27. Support for a genuine cause:

Prior to using a Mongoose, Hayden used a Gray-Nicolls bat with a fluorescent pink grip, to highlight and support research into a cure for breast cancer. This move was inspired by his team-mate Glenn McGrath’s wife struggle with this illness

28. Marriage:

Matthew Hayden is married to Kellie Hayden, and they have a daughter named Grace (born June 2002), and two sons named Joshua (born 15 April 2005) and Thomas Joseph (born May 2007

29. Social work:

Matthew Hayden is patron of Parent Project Australia, a charity fighting for a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

30. Honour:

On 26 January 2010, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to cricket, and to the community through support for a range of health, youth and charitable organizations.