Most people in world cricket will miss Matthew Hayden.
His fans will, ofcourse.
Those who hate him will as well, no one likes to see their villain leave, even if they say they do.
I fall somewhere in the middle.
Off the field he made me feel good for being a Victorian and a heretic.
On the field he could be like watching a bar room brawl, you knew the bigger guy was going to win, but you were in it for the blood.
He was big and strong. He charged. He bashed. He Sledged. He hoiked.
His runs came from cockiness and testosterone.
He was thuggery with a grey nicolls.
An almost primordial nature to it.
There was the scent of blood in the air.
Some of it was pure bullying, at other times it was hand to hand combat, but it was very rarely something I didn’t want to watch.
He was one of the few batsmen I loved to watch in form as much as I like to watch him getting worked over.
A long time ago I compared him to John Wayne, because both men share so many common attributes.
They both believe they are doing gods work, they both believe in everything they do with a certainty that most men can’t fathom, and what they do might upset a lot of people, but it does get results.
And I am talking about John Wayne on screen, and off.
Has Hayden been a 50’s movie star, he would have caught the commies, spoken out against lily livered liberals and killed a lot of people.
Wayne and Hayden lived a certain way, subtlety and finesse was not required, they bludgeon you, and people tend to love or hate that.
And it is also why their special performances are the ones where they did something different, Wayne in the Searchers, and Hayden in the 2005 Ashes.
They still had the rock hard belief, they were still warriors, but they used other means that weren’t just bullying and force to get the job done.
Ofcourse being gladatiors and stubborn fuckers, the changes nearly came to late.
Other purer batsmen like Ponting or Tendulkar would have changed their styles much sooner, but he was not a batsmen, he was an aggressor.
That he tried to live and die by the sword is both as admirable as it is stupid.
Ofcourse the real life Hayden was not a gladiator.
A man of Christ, a cook, a meticulous planner, and a man who would use “the secret†style visualization the day before he played his innings.
He is a man who overcame a limited technique, being told by none other than Rod Marsh he wasn’t good enough, and constant failure at test level early on.
Almost no one believed in him, but he made it, flat tracks and average bowling attacks helped him, but he still had to make the runs.
Then there were the comments in the media, obnoxious weed, 3rd world, alpha dog and that was just against India. Hard to believe they came from the same person who often asked himself, what would Christ do?
Other Australian players said similar things, but no one pissed off as many people with a microphone as Hayden.
As for assertions he is Australia’s best ever opener, they are plainly wrong.
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t damn good.
There were just better openers, Trumper, Brown, and Ponsford off the top of my head.
Being placed behind these men is not an insult to anyone, especially someone who bats in this day and age.
As for his departure I know I will miss watching him bat, but I don’t think I will miss "himâ€.
Thank Christ he’s gone I say.
cricketwithballs
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