Was Haydo ripped off?

[Matabele]

It's a point of infamy that Slater was given the opening gig for the 1st Ashes Test of the 1993 series ahead of Hayden, despite the Queenslander having a far superior record to the NSWman.

This consigned Hayden to 6 years in the wilderness.

And I pondered as he wracked up yet another century and moved to 5th on the all-time scorers list for Australians over the weekend while Slater cometated in the box with his 40 something Test average.

Was Hayden denied 6 years of glroy by a far inferior player, simply because said monkey came from NSW?

 

[Fro]

Simple answer to that one. No he wasnt. they both made their Debuts in the 91/92 season and Slater stormed into the ashes squad averaging something like 60 the season before. it was well known at the time that one of them was going to get the nod to open with Taylor. Slater was the one they went with and did a great job.

Yes the conspiracy theorists (or QLD public) think Hayden was dudded at the time due to the fact that he didnt go to the academy etc, but he had technical flaws (as did Slater) and worked his butt off and got past them, and became a great bat that he is today.

Dont forget that when he did get his chance in RSA he hardly set the world on fire.

 

[Matabele]

Hard to set the world on fire with a broken finger don't you think.

And Fro your memory is deficient. Hayden was by far the better of the two in 1st class cricket prior to 1993.

 

[Fro]

I didnt mention any of Haydens figures, just that Slater averaged 60 odd the season before.

How many 24 yr olds have never been dropped?

Your question was was he denied six years, the answer No he wasnt. he was denied first crack at the position, for whatever reason, but he played test cricket not long after, was dropped on 2 seperate occasions and worked to get back in and is now killing it. More credit to him, just as he worked to get back int the ODI squad after basically being told he was surplus to requirements for the last world cup.

I wont bag Hayden, he has played some of the best innings I have ever seen, but the kid who went to England 15 yrs ago is not the gun who dominated in the early to mid part of this decade and is still a more than handy contributor today.

 

[Matabele]

I contend if he was given the same chances at the much-inferior Slater recieved then he would already be past Border.

 

[nodd]

i think the 6 years in the wilderness did Hayden more good than harm.

It made him mentally tougher and allowed him to work at his game. If he had got the nod ahead of slater i don't think he would be as good as he is.

Slater was a terrific player but lacked that hard edge that Hayden has. Things could have been the complete reverse if Hayden was given the nod.

 

[Nutzcraw]

I'm with Nodd.

How do you know he would be as good as he is if he had of got first crack??

I am a QLDer and I was happy to see Slats get the nod and he did an awesome job.

He was outstanding to watch bat.

Mathew Hayden will go down as Australia's greatest test opener and he deserves it.

As for your question, mata... It can't be answered simply.

 

[Fro]

Define "much inferior" Matas. Neither of them was more than just out of nappies at the time.

They were probably both "far superior" to a young Stephen Waugh in the mid 80s and "much inferior" records to Mike Hussey or Mark Waugh before they got their chances, so what??

They are all good players, although none of them with the exception of S Waugh stands in the pantheon of Australian cricket greats.

 

[The Gronk]

Turn it up!!!

1. Slater scored a half century in the first test in the UK and a century in the second

2. Hayden never really hit his straps until the 2001 tour of India. I think he was averaging under 30 in tests up until then and he has been in the 60s after that.

3. Coming from kwernsssssland he was a bit slower than most and it took him a while to work out the relationship between scoring lots of runs and getting selected in the team.

 

[nodd]

He worked out quickly enough that scoring heaps of runs against you southern cricketing geniuses would keep him in the QLD side :lol2:

 

[Fro]

Nodd counting to ten and reciting the alphabet would have kept him in the QLD side

 

[nodd]

Yeah sorry Fro.

i keep forgetting how backwards we are up here :doh:

Lucky you keep reminding me

 

[Nutzcraw]

How many states are represented in the 25 aussie squad??

 

[nodd]

NSW- 7
QLD- 5
WA- 5
SA- 4
TAS- 2
VIC- 2

2007-08 contracts
NAME STATE AGE
Cullen Bailey SA 22
Nathan Bracken NSW 29
Stuart Clark NSW 31
Michael Clarke NSW 26
Daniel Cullen SA 23
Adam Gilchrist WA 35
Jason Gillespie SA 32
Brad Haddin NSW 29
Matthew Hayden QLD 35
Ben Hilfenhaus TAS 24
Brad Hodge VIC 32
Brad Hogg WA 36
James Hopes QLD 28
Michael Hussey WA 31
Phil Jaques NSW 27
Mitchell Johnson QLD 25
Brett Lee NSW 30
Stuart MacGill NSW 36
Ricky Ponting TAS 32
Chris Rogers WA 29
Andrew Symonds QLD 31
Shaun Tait SA 24
Adam Voges WA 27
Shane Watson QLD 25
Cameron White VIC 23

 

[Fro]

No worries Nodd, I'm here to help