cricket, page-358

Michael Epis has a point re Hayden;

"...You could say Hayden has stolen 29 Test centuries, having barely faced one decent fast bowler in all that time. "

I agree.

Now in saying that I thought Hayden would do well BEFORE he got into Test Cricket when he broke onto the First class scene for QLD. He was a run scorer.I was a fan of his approach and discipline.

But...

Epis is right re his record. He has faced some good bowlers along the way, his skill is monstering poor/average attacks by bullying them with his stance outside the crease.
It works most of the time against sub 140Kph bowlers..particularly if they are pedestrian.

Against Akhtar he failed. And what about Ashes 2005 in England? I recall NZ Bond making him look inept. Mind you Bond on song makes most look that way.

Now, he should go down as the very good player 'statistically' that he is. Its unfortunate though that he will leap frog any number of players 'better' than him due to the games poor attacks.

When he finishes up he will be in an elite group of 30+ Test centuries.
He may well pass Lara....a joke as he is not anywhere near Laras league..BUT...his stats will show he is.

Good on Hayden I say for making the most of his opportunities.

But lets find better ways to rate our players because frankly the crap they face these days means if you are averaging below 50 you are 'ordinary'.