Matthew Hayden: An imperious and imposing giant

Feared by opponents, but ultimately respected for his brute force, strokeplay and patience, Matthew Hayden’s esteemed international career, including over 15,000 runs and two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup victories has been marked with an induction into the ICC Hall of Fame.

Spanning 16 years and flourishing in all three formats with his aggression and superior shot-making, Hayden proved to be dominant all over the world.

Hayden felt privileged to have been honoured with a place in the Hall of Fame.

"The ICC Hall of Fame includes many of my heroes of yesteryear as well as contemporaries whom I admired and enjoyed competing against. Each of these players gave something to the game in their own way. It is incredible to be recognized along with them."

Patience and power win the day as feet found in international game

After prolific summers in domestic cricket, Hayden slid into the Australian ODI team in 1993, eventually given a Baggy Green in March 1994 on a tour of South Africa, raced in to replace an injured Mark Taylor.

It would take two and a half years for a chance to represent the Test team again, making his first Test century in his third Test, against the West Indies in Adelaide. A run of Tests in 1997 followed, though Hayden had to wait three years for a return.

Loading up again on first-class runs, Hayden won a competitive race to claim an Australian opening role, and despite one or two blips, he cashed in when given the chance.

Setting himself apart from his contemporaries, Hayden flourished in slow, spin heavy conditions where other foreigners floundered: India. For all his force down the ground, Hayden swept with aplomb. He made 549 runs, the most by an Australian in a three-Test series.

2001 proved to be an annus mirabilis for Hayden, who went on to pass Bob Simpson’s record for most Test runs by an Australian in a calendar year as he scored 1391 runs at an average of 63.22 across 14 Test matches. New Zealand and South Africa felt his wrath, the latter doubly so having hosted a Test series straight after the Australian home summer.

The period would prove to be just a taste of what was to come, as imposing and larger than life than he had already shown to be.

A five-year purple patch and shining alongside his best mate

Few can boast 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year. Matthew Hayden is the only player to have done this for five years, and that too in successive years.

Alongside best mate and opening partner Justin Langer, Hayden was almost unstoppable. After the tour of South Africa in early 2002, Hayden showed his wares in UAE against Pakistan, and proved a nightmare for England in the 2002/2003 Ashes series, with two centuries, one of them in Brisbane and another in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG as he scored 496 runs at an impressive average of 62 across the five-match Test series.

Wedged in between his prolific Test stretch, Hayden played a role in Australia’s successful 2003 Cricket World Cup campaign, having stood in a top-three batting ranking in both formats, and teaming up with limited-overs opening partner Adam Gilchrist.

Matthew Hayden during his record knock of 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003 // Getty Images

Centuries followed in the West Indies on a Test tour of 2003, though the outlying innings of the year was his 10-hour stay at the crease at the WACA, plundering 380 (437) against Zimbabwe, breaking Brian Lara’s Test record of 375. Lara went on to reclaim the record months later, though the effort from Hayden remains the second-highest Test score, and the highest by a player opening the batting.

Twin centuries in Sri Lanka followed, moving him to an even 20 in his first 55 Test matches. In the five years of such prolific run-scoring in Test cricket, Hayden smashed 6366 runs at 59.49, making 24 hundreds and 21 fifties in 119 innings.

And to make the success sweeter, Hayden achieved so much of his batting success with Langer at the other end. The pair scored 5655 runs together in opening partnership at an average of 51.88, with only Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes more prolific as a pair (6482).

Doubling the World Cup dose, adapting to T20 cricket and continuing Test charge

Almost hidden by Hayden’s power and force was his ability to play all around the wicket, with an arsenal of shots to match world-class players across generations. Walking at bowlers in his pomp, striding and driving, Hayden was also a fine player of cross-bat shots, sweeping on length, negating top class spin bowling.

As centuries against England at The Oval and the ICC World XI on home soil in late-2005 sparked a second wind in the Test arena, Hayden remained a batting bully in white-ball cricket. His 181* in an ODI against New Zealand in Hamilton in early 2007 meant Hayden at one point held the highest individual scores in both Test and ODI formats for his country.

The knock was a precursor for the World Cup held soon after, where he became just the second player to surpass 600 runs in a single tournament - 659 at 73.22. He made three centuries before the Super Eights section of the event, with his hundred against South Africa coming off just 66 balls. A key cog in Australia’s successful World Cup defence, he was unsurprisingly named in the ICC ODI Team of the Year for his exploits.

Before a swansong in Test whites, Hayden took part in the inaugural T20 World Cup, adapting to the new format with ease. He topped the tournament run-tally with 265, and bowed out with an average of over 50 and a strike rate of 143.92 in the T20I format.

Hayden had one final flurry in the Test arena, making centuries in three consecutive Tests against India in their visit in the 2007/2008 Test season, helping him pass Bradman’s total of 29 hundreds. Hayden waved goodbye with an even 30 to his name, as one of just four Australians to reach the mark.

Also a presence in the field too as a fine slips fielder, Hayden was at the forefront of Australia’s all-conquering success. As rivals tried to dethrone the green and gold in a golden era, they all too often fell at the first hurdle, as Hayden broke the back of bowling attacks in all conditions and climates.