Many years ago, when Australia’s cricket team ruled the world with even greater authority than it does now, a well-worn adage was it was harder for a player to get dropped than picked.
Try telling Matthew Hayden that. He almost became the Test great that never was.
You’ll recall the square-shouldered opener making a flood of runs for Queensland in the 1990s, knocking up single and sometimes double-centuries at will, yet he struggled when selected for Australia.
He played seven Tests from 1994 to 1997, parked behind Michael Slater, Matthew Elliott and Greg Blewett as captain Mark Taylor’s opening partner, but rarely made an impression.
There were doubts about his technique. He was tossed into the same pigeonhole as England’s Graeme Hick: brilliant domestic player but not quite good enough to play with the big boys at the top level.
Hayden’s response was to keep bludgeoning runs for his state and with each big score came even bigger headlines from a parochial Brisbane media calling out a perceived bias from selectors towards NSW players.
Matthew Hayden in action during the Boxing Day Test against India in 2007 at the MCG.Credit: Vince Caligiuri
The sheer weight of runs led to his eventual return to the Australian team.
He struggled on the 1999-2000 tour of New Zealand, then at home against the West Indies the following summer, but the selectors held their nerve and the payoff was immense for both team and player. He averaged a hundred on the tour of India in 2001 before scoring a thousand or more runs each year for the next five years.
Sure, Hayden found himself out of form at various times. “I find Test cricket really, really hard,” he told me in an interview in 2003.
But he finished his career in 2009 with 8625 runs, at an average of more than 50, and is still fourth on the all-time list for most Test centuries scored by an Australian.
So here’s a question: would Hayden have become the run-scoring machine for his country if he was playing now? Would his numbers in domestic cricket count for anything? At all? Would he have been given that final chance?
Cameron Green is back in the Test team.Credit: Getty
You have to wonder.
Ever since David Warner named the SCG Test as his preferred end-date, debate has bubbled along about his replacement and many figured it should be all-rounder Cameron Green.
Australian players tell you the hype about Green being a “generational” cricketer is justified.
When he was in the team, he’d face up to the likes of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in the nets, crunching shiny new balls so effortlessly his teammates were heard to utter: “This kid doesn’t know how good he is.”
That’s when Green was in the team. He was dropped during the Ashes after failing to score enough runs, and then from the one-day side at the World Cup, but now — within five months — the selectors are desperate to rush him back like he’s Keith Miller.
Instead of asking a 24-year-old with more than a decade of cricket ahead of him to bide his time and wait his turn like generations of “generational” cricketers before him, the decision has been made to select Green in the middle order for the two-match series against the West Indies.
To accommodate his recall, Steve Smith has been bumped up to opener because he needs a “new challenge”. This confounds me: isn’t playing for your country enough of a challenge? Evidently not.
Steve Smith is moving up the order.Credit: Getty
Meanwhile, Cameron Bancroft has made 1457 runs at 58 over the past two summers, including two hundreds and three half-centuries this season. That’s more than any other batsman. That’s more than Hayden in the two seasons before his Test recall.
Yet you sense the opening bats for the Urunga First XI have greater hope of a Test call-up than the West Australian.
Chairman of selectors George Bailey took exception to questions on Wednesday about Bancroft being on the outer after Bancroft suggested in an interview in 2021 that the bowlers knew he had sandpaper down his pants at Newlands in 2018, but that argument is getting harder to swallow, especially after Matt Renshaw was selected as the back-up batsman for the Windies series ahead of him.
I’m not arguing Bancroft can leave the same mark on Test cricket as Hayden. They’re two vastly different players: Bancroft crafts his innings like a traditional opener; Hayden clubbed the ball with the same ferocity as Warner.
Cameron Bancroft has missed out again.Credit: Getty
And Bancroft’s Test record is hardly compelling. He’s scored just three half-centuries in 18 innings in 10 Tests.
But he last played for his country in 2019 and has made thousands of domestic runs since. What does it say to him and others with aspirations of playing Test cricket for Australia when a gluttony of runs means less than Green’s unrealised potential?
It says you are better off chasing the money playing franchise cricket around the globe instead of worrying about your state and country.
Several Australian players forecast the death of Test cricket after South Africa picked a second-string side for the tour of New Zealand earlier this month.
Perhaps they should take a quick peep into their own backyard where the pathway to the Australian Test team has never been so confusing.
Warner’s chopper to land on SCG turf
What do Elton John and David Warner have in common?
Apart from being flamboyant entertainers who relish the big stage, their preferred mode of transport to or from the SCG is a helicopter.
Warner will attend his brother’s wedding in the Hunter Valley on Friday afternoon before jumping in a helicopter to fly to Sydney for the Sydney Thunder’s Big Bash clash with the Sydney Sixers.
Elton John performed at Allianz Stadium in Sydney in January.Credit: Getty
It’s been reported the helicopter will land at the adjacent Allianz Stadium, but Venues NSW confirmed the helicopter will actually land on the sacred turf of the SCG.
Now that’s making an entrance.
In 2017, Elton was taken from his hotel in the city to Moore Park before being flown via helicopter to a concert in Wollongong.
Another blow for NRL’s Vegas venture
Last October, ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys declared that he wanted boxer Tim Tszyu to fight on the Friday night before the historic season-opening double-header in Las Vegas.
Tim Tszyu won’t be fighting in Las Vegas on the NRL weekend.Credit: Getty
“We want Tim Tszyu to be the face of our NRL week in Las Vegas,” V’landys told News Corp. “Tim is a Souths fan so to get him there would be a marketer’s dream for the NRL.”
A fight against Jermell Charlo would’ve been beneficial to both parties, although mostly Tsyzu who would have a much larger than expected contingent of Australian fans in attendance.
But, like so many promises made about this event, it wasn’t to be. It was revealed this week the fight won’t happen. Charlo is facing assault charges and no other bout could be arranged.
Aaron Woods, Campbell Graham, Spencer Leniu and Billy Walters in Las Vegas.Credit: Getty
So, as it stands, no Russell Crowe, no Hugh Jackman, no Tszyu.
I’m also hearing ticket sales haven’t really taken off beyond the 20,000 sold before Christmas, although the NRL is expecting – praying? – there will be walk-ups on the night.
Fox Sports and Fox News in the US have been pumping the double-header quite regularly on their networks, so the event is receiving plenty of visibility.
If rugby league fans are wandering the streets looking for something to do on the Friday night, there’s still U2 at The Sphere, Madonna at T-Mobile Arena, Christina Aguilera at the Voltaire, Cirque du Soleil at the Mandalay Bay, Kevin Hart at Resorts World (where the four NRL teams are staying) and Timmy Trumpet (who fell off the stage while performing at the 2021 NRL grand final) at the Hakkasan Nightclub.
I also noticed when I was there in December that Las Vegas has a casino or two as well as other interesting leisure activities.
THE QUOTE
“I have learnt as much from working with horses as I have in my entire professional career. They are all seeking leadership and trust, and they want to be a part of something and long to earn it.” — Queensland coach and Magic Millions ambassador Billy Slater. I deeply respect Billy but do all horses really want to be part of it? The horsies I put money on seem quite apathetic about the whole thing.
THUMBS UP
The indomitable Ellyse Perry celebrated her 300th game of international cricket with 32 from 21 balls — including a winning six — against India on Sunday night. Too many athletes are bestowed with GOAT status these days, but Perry is definitely the GOAT. And she’s become the GOAT with great humility and quiet determination.
THUMBS DOWN
Damn you, Injury Gods, for ruling Sam Kerr out of the Paris Olympics with a blown ACL and Rafael Nadal out of the Australian Open with a micro-tear of his troublesome hip.
It’s a big weekend for … media personality and sometimes Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, whose side meets the Miami Dolphins in the NFL’s wildcard round on Sunday AEDT. Fun fact: no American footballer has appeared in more commercials this season than Kelce. Did you also know he’s dating Taylor Swift? Zzzzzzz.
It’s an even bigger weekend for … the Socceroos, who have returned to their happy hunting ground of Qatar for the AFC Asian Cup. It’s a big tournament for Graham Arnold’s side — some reckon they can win the whole shebang, starting with India on Saturday night AEDT. Get around them.
