Matthew Hayden’s International career in numbers

Matthew Hayden was the longest serving opener in Test cricket for Australia and also one of the greatest ever players from his country to feature during their golden period. The hefty left-hander has not only made a mark in the Australian annals but also a great impact in the International cricket record books.

On occasion of his 46th birthday, we look at the numbers he achieved in International cricket:

2 – Between 2002 and 2004, Hayden aggregated 2000 runs in International cricket in each of the three calendar years. He is only 2nd to Sachin Tendulkar (1996, 1997 and 1998) with 2000+ International runs in three consecutive calendar years.

5 – Number of consecutive years from 2001 to 2005 when he amassed 1000 in consecutive calendar years. No other player has accomplished this feat in more than three consecutive years.

30 – Number of centuries he scored in the first 100 Test matches of his career. These are the joint most number of centuries for any player after 100 Tests. Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar also had 30 hundreds each in their first 100 Tests.

158 – With his 158 against Windies in 2007, Matthew became the first Australian to score 150+ in a World Cup game. David Warner became the 2nd in 2015 when he struck 178 against Afghanistan.

181* – His 181* against New Zealand in 2007 is then the highest individual score for Australia in ODI cricket. Shane Watson surpassed Hayden in 2011 with 185* against Bangladesh at Dhaka.

181* – His 181* was also then the highest individual score in ODI cricket in a losing cause. Zimbabwe’s Charles Coventry broke it when his 194* against Bangladesh in 2010 that ended in a defeat.

265 – Runs Hayden scored in the inaugural WT20 edition in 2007 hosted by South Africa. It was the highest for any player in that competition.

380 – His 380 against Zimbabwe at Perth in 2003 was then the highest individual score in Test cricket before Brian Lara went past with 400* in 2004. Hayden’s 380 remains as the highest individual score for an Australian and the highest by an opener in Test cricket.

659 – Hayden’s 659 runs in the 2007 World Cup hosted by Windies are the 2nd most runs scored in a single World Cup edition by any player. Tendulkar scored 673 runs in the 2003 CWC held in South Africa.

1601 – His 1601 runs in ODIs in 2007 are the most in a calendar year by an Australian. These are also the most ODI runs in a calendar year by a non-Indian player as top four places in this list are garbed by Indians.

8625 – His 8625 runs as an opener in Test cricket are the most by an Australian and the 4th most for any player in this format while opening the innings. His 14825 International runs as an opener are also the most by any Australian.