Matthew Hayden
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Source: [1], 27 April 2006 |
Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born October 29, 1971 in Kingaroy, Queensland) is an outstanding Australian and Queensland cricketer. He is a powerful and aggressive left hand opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day level. He has formed one of the most fearsome opening partnerships in world cricket for Australia with Justin Langer.
Hayden debuted for the Australian team in the 1993/94 season. He was given a few chances to show his wares, opening alongside Mark Taylor and Michael Slater, but batted sluggishly and falling too easily and too often to the ball angled across him. It looked as though Hayden's career was over. He was still prolific at domestic level but did not seem to cut it in the Test arena. To his credit he kept churning out big scores for Queensland and finally he had his international career resurrected in the 2000 tour of New Zealand. In the tour of India in 2001 he averaged a Bradmanesque average of 109.80 and then again in 2002. Since then, he has been a regular in both the Test and one day sides.
He briefly held the world record for the highest Test score, 380, which he scored in Perth against Zimbabwe on 10 October 2003. It narrowly eclipsed the previous best, 375, held by Brian Lara of the West Indies. Lara, congratulated Hayden on his feat, but reclaimed the record with 400 not out against England on April 12, 2004. Hayden scored over 1000 Test runs in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 & 2005, the first man to achieve the feat five times. Interestingly, 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.
Hayden has been involved in the Australian side that won the 2003 World Cup, and the Test side that recorded the record number of consecutive wins. 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 was also one of Wisden's five 2003 Cricketers of the Year.
In 2000, Hayden's boat capsized whilst fishing 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.
Hayden has had several spells in English county cricket and is most associated with Hampshire.
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