Should Matthew Hayden retire?

[NUFAN]

Haha oh yeah, totally forgot about Jaques. Hope he recovers soon.

 

[Mister Wright]

Really hope Hayden can make it to the Ashes. Missed far too many tours when he was younger, deserves to go out on an Ashes tour.

 

[mikeW]

whoever it is Jaques should still get the spot when he's fit. Don't care what happens between now and then as far as other players performances and form but Jaques earnt a spot at the top of the order and it should be his to lose.

Hughes should replace him, failing that Rogers has been sensational for 3-4 years now.

 

[Burgey]

Thing about Hayden tohugh, is he's still timing the ball well and taking good catches in slips (at least to date). It's not like a Dravid patch or what Taylor went through in 1996-7.
That would seem to suggest it's got more to do with his mindset than a sudden loss of ability, but who knows?

 

[aussie]

No, hasn't looked out of form just has gotten some very good deliveries since his return. Smell a big innings very soon.

Hope that rumor is false also, Mattys gotta be here next year mayn..

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Thr Prince without a doubt. Just keeping it warm for Jaquesy though.

 

[Okapi]

Yes.

 

[Richard]

I'm getting strong whispers from my Perth-based spies that Haydos could be making an announcement after this Test, with a view to finishing up in Sydney.

Heard that this morning too. I hope this spy isn't taking cabbage from both of us!!!

Daym, I'll be soo disappointed if he doesn't go to SA and Eng, especially if the pitches end-up with a bit of juice in them.

 

[Richard]

Thing about Hayden tohugh, is he's still timing the ball well and taking good catches in slips (at least to date). It's not like a Dravid patch or what Taylor went through in 1996-7.
That would seem to suggest it's got more to do with his mindset than a sudden loss of ability, but who knows?

Funny, that's what Mark Waugh said about himself in 2001/02. Said it with hindsight, of course.

 

[Redbacks]

He is being carried ATM. Langer and Co have come out and backed their man on the radio but a tough decision is just around the corner. Will they have the balls to drop him mid series if he goes on tour?

 

[howardj]

He is being carried ATM. Langer and Co have come out and backed their man on the radio but a tough decision is just around the corner. Will they have the balls to drop him mid series if he goes on tour?

The Brown Nose Gnome backs everyone though.

 

[alternative]

Would rather see him dropped than retired tbh.

 

[Xuhaib]

Daym, I'll be soo disappointed if he doesn't go to SA and Eng, especially if the pitches end-up with a bit of juice in them.

Want him to finish with a < 50 avg?

 

[iamdavid]

Thing about Hayden tohugh, is he's still timing the ball well and taking good catches in slips (at least to date). It's not like a Dravid patch or what Taylor went through in 1996-7.
That would seem to suggest it's got more to do with his mindset than a sudden loss of ability, but who knows?

I agree, at times in India he looked in vintage touch (final innings of the fourth test for example), he was still striking the ball beautifully and his footwork looked sharp as ever. However he just seemed like he was tinkering around with his game a little and he was a little unsure how to go about it.

I honestly think this is just a huge media over-reaction and if he were 32 then it obviously would not be getting mentioned. The guy was superb last summer, missed a bit of cricket through injury and has missed out since his return, although he has been on the recieving end of some great deliveries and poor umpiring.
I'm sure he's still got some big innings in him and I dont think his test spot is under any threat at all and nor should it be, I just hope the media dosent hound him into retiring earlier than he would like.

 

[Top_Cat]

I agree, at times in India he looked in vintage touch (final innings of the fourth test for example), he was still striking the ball beautifully and his footwork looked sharp as ever. However he just seemed like he was tinkering around with his game a little and he was a little unsure how to go about it.

I honestly think this is just a huge media over-reaction and if he were 32 then it obviously would not be getting mentioned. The guy was superb last summer, missed a bit of cricket through injury and has missed out since his return, although he has been on the recieving end of some great deliveries and poor umpiring.
I'm sure he's still got some big innings in him and I dont think his test spot is under any threat at all and nor should it be, I just hope the media dosent hound him into retiring earlier than he would like.

AWTA. He's hitting them fine. Either his brain isn't quite there because he's thinking of giving it away soon or a big score is around the corner. Has copped a few rough ones of late too.

 

[pasag]

I agree, at times in India he looked in vintage touch (final innings of the fourth test for example), he was still striking the ball beautifully and his footwork looked sharp as ever. However he just seemed like he was tinkering around with his game a little and he was a little unsure how to go about it.

I honestly think this is just a huge media over-reaction and if he were 32 then it obviously would not be getting mentioned. The guy was superb last summer, missed a bit of cricket through injury and has missed out since his return, although he has been on the recieving end of some great deliveries and poor umpiring.
I'm sure he's still got some big innings in him and I dont think his test spot is under any threat at all and nor should it be, I just hope the media dosent hound him into retiring earlier than he would like.

Agreed. Reckon this is the worst overreaction by the cricketing media (Australian for the most part) in recent times.

 

[Richard]

Want him to finish with a < 50 avg?

Well, against Test-class teams (which is all that matters to me) his career average is already under 50, but I don't much care for overall career averages, as you know. I'd just like to see him out cheaply the maximum number of times possible, as I've had to suffer through him scoring big innings' so many times.

It won't prove a great deal if he has a bad spell at the end of his career, even if that bad spell is lengthy, as people can (like they did last time, 4 years ago) blame it on his play declining. But it might help people 40 years down the line a little bit.

 

[Matt79]

I agree, at times in India he looked in vintage touch (final innings of the fourth test for example), he was still striking the ball beautifully and his footwork looked sharp as ever. However he just seemed like he was tinkering around with his game a little and he was a little unsure how to go about it.

I honestly think this is just a huge media over-reaction and if he were 32 then it obviously would not be getting mentioned. The guy was superb last summer, missed a bit of cricket through injury and has missed out since his return, although he has been on the recieving end of some great deliveries and poor umpiring.
I'm sure he's still got some big innings in him and I dont think his test spot is under any threat at all and nor should it be, I just hope the media dosent hound him into retiring earlier than he would like.

Except he's 37 IIRC, not 32. The number of batsmen who have retained all their faculties through to 38-40 is a tiny proportion of those who were still basically sound at 32. Age does eventually begin to seriously affect your ability to perform at levels you had previously been able to attain - at which point what might have seemed a simple form slump at one point in a career seems like the arrival of an irreversible decline.

I've said it before, but I think he should have the whole of the SA series in Australia to find some form - if he hasn't done so by then, his place does come into serious question.

That said, its wretched how **** luck follows you when you're having a bad patch - he's been run out twice and sawn off in this innings (albeit having got what seemed like a lucky break earlier in that dig).

 

[pup11]

For me Matty Hayden is as important a player as anybody in the Aussie test side, his presence at the top of the order is gives Australia a lot of strength, Hayden is 37 but he is fit and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down or being a liability on the side.

He is just going through a rough patch atm as i won't call even call him out of form, as his knocks of 80 and 70 odd in India and whatever knocks he has played in Australia so far he has been hitting the ball very well, its just that he has been getting out in one way or the another, some very atrocious decisions have gone against him and he even got run-out a couple of times, so things haven't been exactly going his way, but his presence is still pretty valuable for a team that is going through a transitional period and one that' already pretty light on experience.

So ideal scenario wise he should atleast stay till Ashes 2009 series and then decide whether he wants to play more or has he had enough.

 

[Richard]

Except he's 37 IIRC, not 32. The number of batsmen who have retained all their faculties through to 38-40 is a tiny proportion of those who were still basically sound at 32.

32 should be when a batsman's still at the peak of his game, really. 30-31-32 is the sort of age I'd generally expect a batsman to peak at.

That said, its wretched how **** luck follows you when you're having a bad patch - he's been run out twice and sawn off in this innings (albeit having got what seemed like a lucky break earlier in that dig).

Same way it's wretched how obscenely good fortune follows you when you're having a good patch, as happened with Hayden in 2002/03 against Pakistan and England. Lost count of the number of let-offs he got in the 8 Tests - reckon it was at least 7. Almost a let-off per Test.

Has it occurred that luck sometimes plays a huge part in how many runs you score? Yes, of course it has.