You have to assume that a star in the 20s would be a star today because if he played today he would have all the preparation, fitness etc etc that they have today. I think cricket is one of the best games to compare people over 100+ years because the nature of the game has changed less than say Aussie rules (AFL).
Also but I dont know why but I feel more comfortable describing openers as pairs like Hayden and Langer who helped each other so much. Haydos aggressive nature enabled Lang to play a more "solid" type of game, but when Haydos struggled and had to graft out scores Lang became more aggressive. Also with Langer some of his very aggressive 40 odd scores in NZ a few years ago where we won a low scoring series 3-0 really had a huge impact. There may be arguments over whether Hayden was an all time great or not but his pairing with Langer is one I am more comfortable rating as an all time great than Hayden individually.
That said, his effort in this series with Jacques as a new partner must almost tip him into all time greatness. If he drags Jacques anywhere near the opening partnership averages he had with Lang then it would be very hard to argue against Haydos being an all time great
Also but I dont know why but I feel more comfortable describing openers as pairs like Hayden and Langer who helped each other so much. Haydos aggressive nature enabled Lang to play a more "solid" type of game, but when Haydos struggled and had to graft out scores Lang became more aggressive. Also with Langer some of his very aggressive 40 odd scores in NZ a few years ago where we won a low scoring series 3-0 really had a huge impact. There may be arguments over whether Hayden was an all time great or not but his pairing with Langer is one I am more comfortable rating as an all time great than Hayden individually.
That said, his effort in this series with Jacques as a new partner must almost tip him into all time greatness. If he drags Jacques anywhere near the opening partnership averages he had with Lang then it would be very hard to argue against Haydos being an all time great