Did you see that match? It was 54 degrees out in the middle. The conditions were extremely oppressive. Pakistan used the same ball for most of the innings. It was a soft, misshapen piece of leather that hardly rolled. Yet Hayden scored a hundred, much more than any other batsmen. It so disheartened the Pakistani batsmen that they lost the will to fight and collapsed in both innings. It was outstanding batting.
Surely the number of times that Hayden has reinvented himself should prove that he would have overcome the challenge of bowlers in the 90's if he was given the chance. Don't forget he was kept out by the NSW collective. (two quite good batsmen in Taylor and Slater )
The more Oppresive the heat conditions the more it favours batting sides not bowling/fielding sides.
Hayden's batting "Disheartened the Pakistani batsmen" - I've heard of their immediate opponents (bowlers) disheartening them but that's a fair stretch.
"If he was given the chance" - Hayden had opportunities. 13 tests between his debut and his first test against the spin-heavy Indians in 2001, yet he still averaged only 24.
I'd like to know how many of the great batsmen had an average that low after their first 13 tests.
As far as I'm concerned, a "great" is a player who has that something special about them from a young age and pretty much displays it straight away in test cricket.