HAYDEN RETIRES

[Gozu]

It's been coming for a long time and the writing was on the wall when he got dropped from the ODI squad. I felt he should've retired when he got sent home from the West Indies without facing a ball. Even watching him in the IPL last year, I felt he wasn't going to get back to the Hayden we all remember. Yes, he went on 12 months too long but with the money on offer these days you can hardly blame him?

Does anyone know if he's going to keep playing for Queensland or his IPL side? I will be pretty impressed if he walks away from the two years remaining on his IPL contract.

FWIW, I always expected Symonds to be the one to retire on his own terms after this summer and concentrate on the IPL. I think he's almost done in international cricket and at his age I'd be making sure I get every cent of the $US3m left on his IPL contract.

[bayman]

watching the new zealand v west indies odi today they gave out the news & mentioned he has retired from all forms of cricket

[the joker]

Now hopefully all the people on here will stop Hayden Bashing

[smac]

A transcript from his press conference this morning:

Today I am announcing my retirement from representative cricket effective immediately. This is a decision that I have not taken lightly and I am here after much thought, consideration and discussion with my family and close friends. It is ultimately my decision and I know that now is the time to move on to the next stage of my life and career.

I have spent the last 17 years doing something I love and that has been playing cricket for my country. I’ve lived the dream of every kid who ever picked up a cricket bat or ball and wanted to wear the Baggy Green. I have loved every minute that I have represented Australia and Queensland and it is a privilege and honour that I will always appreciate and remember fondly.

Importantly for me, today I am retiring from cricket, not from life.

There is still so much that I want to achieve and contribute to the community.

Importantly for me, I want to use the time now to explore my other passions of fishing, boating, cooking and the outdoors.

While I do not wish to talk about it in detail today, I see the next part of my life helping Australian families and kids reconnect with our great country by simply taking the time to get outside.

I am excited by this opportunity and it is something I have been waiting to get my teeth into for some time.

I have no intention on turning my back on our great game, a game which has given me so much joy. Rather I would love to focus on some key areas.

I share the dream with Cricket Australia, the Federal Government, the honourable Kevin Rudd and Jenny Macklin, the Federal Minister for Indigenous and Multicultural Affairs, and the Macquarie Bank Sports Foundation in creating greater opportunities within indigenous cricket communities throughout Australia in their quest to find our next indigenous Australian cricketer to don the Baggy Green.

I will continue to work closely with Glenn McGrath and Tracy Bevan and the McGrath Foundation as we continue to build Jane’s legacy.

The last Test in Sydney was testament to the fact that the cricketing community can make a real contribution to this and other great causes. As Glenn mentioned, we are proud to be apart of the enormous Australian Spirit.

I am very honoured to be an ambassador for the Macquarie Bank Sports Foundation which continues to generate countless opportunities for the youth of our great country.

Finally within cricket we are all very proud of our achievements at the Australian Cricketers’ Association. There is never a more important time as we enter the next stage of our MOU negotiations with Cricket Australia.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have been with me on this journey to date.

The greatest gift of an international athlete is the value in relationships one acquires on the journey. To my team mates with whom I have shared this exciting part of my life, I want to say thank you for your support and friendship. We have all relished in the opportunity to play in one of the iconic eras of Australian Cricket and as brothers of the Baggy Green it is our calling to ensure our cricket remains strong.

To James Sutherland and his team at Cricket Australia, I want to thank you for the opportunity you’ve provided me to represent my country. It has been an honour.

To Graham Dixon and his staff at Queensland Cricket thank you for your amazing support in nurturing all matters on the home front. Your patience, understanding and progressive thinking have been inspirational.

Other special mentions go out to Valley’s District Cricket Club, Greenmount Cricket Club, Hampshire Cricket Club, Northampton Cricket Club and the Chennai Super Kings Clubhouse. The way all the grassroots has nurtured my progress is truly humbling.

To my brand partners who have been through the highs and lows of a sporting journey, thank you. Their support and friendship has been overwhelming.

To the public and fans who have always supported me, your messages, banners and calls from the stands have always been an inspiration to me and I want to assure you that your support has been vital in my success and enjoyment of the game.

Most importantly, I want to take this time to thank my whole family for their support and unwavering love while I pursued the dream of representing my country.

I want to specifically thank my wife, Kellie. The life of a cricketer’s wife in particular with three small children is a tough one. You have remained a tower of strength, making me feel, in spite of the glaring challenges the road sometimes had ahead, that nothing was impossible. I know and respect your achievement in this period of our life.

To our kids, Grace, Joshua and Thomas – I can finally put my suitcase away, I love you all.

I see today as the end of my cricket career, as well as the start of a new one.

I have loved playing cricket and I count it as a great honour to have represented my country and state. I will never forget the experiences of the last 20 years as a professional cricketer and I am looking forward to the next stage of my life and career.

Thank you.

[Rik E Boy]

Great stuff Haydos.

regards,

REB

[Pup]

Spot on REB


Congratulations on a terrific career Haydos..

[Thiele]

Thanks for al the memories Haydos. You have done your country proud. Once again Haydos you were a champion. all the best

[Gozu]

watching the new zealand v west indies odi today they gave out the news & mentioned he has retired from all forms of cricket

I don't know how legit it is but on Ten News tonight Mark Aiston said Hayden will be continuing to play with Chennai in the IPL this year.

[Lightning McQueen]

I thought it was very well done by CA last night, I found it a little ironic that he happened to retire on the day that Australia just happened to be playing at the GABBA. Nevertheless, I can't say that I was a massive fan, but I was sure impressed with his comments and attitude, he didn't need to be asked any questions, he just rattled a 3 or minute speech straight off the cuff as if he'd rehearsed it all day. I think he spoke so fluently because if he stopped, he was going to lose it.

Well done Matthew Hayden, a couple of impressive records that will take some beating and anyone that questioned his personality will surely be moved by an amazing speech. He said more words as he was going around the oval than I've seen him say for his whole career.

A great family, team and country man.

[Rik E Boy]

I can't say that I was a massive fan,

Eh? The man averaged over 50 for over a hundred tests! Are you a Pom?

regards,

REB

[Lightning McQueen]

I can't say that I was a massive fan,

Eh? The man averaged over 50 for over a hundred tests! Are you a Pom?

regards,

REB

Each to their own mate, I have a lot of respect for his achievements and record, I just wasn't a huge fan of his for other reasons. I do think he earnt his spot harder than most, he probably should've been given a chance a couple of years before he debuted, he was making good runs for Queensland well before he debuted.

I never said that I didn't like him.

btw, there was no need for name calling.

[Gozu]

I thought this was funny from Crikey:

Alas poor Haydos the flat track bully and Christian sledger
Walter Slurry writes:



Matthew Hayden, one of the finest flat track bullies ever to wear the Green & Urine, has finally announced his retirement from first class cricket. Arguably our greatest proponent of front foot sledging, Haydos told an emotional press conference that he no longer had the ability to cuss opponents like he once did and it was time a younger player stepped into his shoes as opening abuser.

Poor Matty. The hurt he must feel at those un-Australian attacks from the public and some in the media who argued that being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to score runs meant just that.

Okay, so he failed to make a decent score in the series against South Africa ... and New Zealand before that ... and in India he may as well have called in a locum ... and that Ashes series loss in England when he made Scott Muller look like a Test cricketer ... but really, big Matty Hayden, Haydos, the man who knows one end of a BBQ from the other, he’s more than just a run machine that ran out of gas. He’s a great Australian, or so News Limited tells us.

And didn’t Matty’s farewell bring out the best in our leaders? To see Stephen Smith gush about this "great lefty" is just so patriotic it makes you want to wrap an Aussie flag 'round you and go bash a darkie at Cronulla Beach. If only Baz had thought to cast him in Australia .... but apparently Nicole Kidman was his first choice as Lady Sarah Ashley.


Spare a tear for those poor folk at KFC who now have the ignominy of having their 11 secret fried hormones spruiked by a retiree (Haydos), an underperforming dud (Symonds), and Mr Croquet (Hussey). Surely Matty should have been allowed to remain an international cricketer while the chicken and Ford ads remained on TV this summer?


Of course, we have Haydos’ many great feats to hold dear. Who will ever forget October 2003, when the great man smashed a then world record 380 against Zimbabwe? What cricket lover doesn’t have forever embedded in their memory the way Matty somehow mastered the fine bowling attack of Ervine, Gripper, Bignaut and Price? And in Perth too, where the Zimbabwean pace attack was at its most lively and dangerous.


It wasn’t just cricket powerhouses like those well fed boys from Harare who felt the wrath of the big man’s bat. Hayden scored many a fine century against some of the best non-seaming attacks in the world. Boy oh boy could he rip apart a bowler who couldn’t get the ball to reverse swing or move off the seam.


But if Matty Hayden should be remembered for one contribution to the Green and Urine, it must surely be his fine sense of Christian sledging. The Reverend Jim Jones would have been proud of our lad.


Adam Gilchrist, something of an iconoclast in the Waugh/Ponting school of "mental disintegration", once rushed to Haydos' defence when Indian players noted big Matty was just about the most unpopular international player around.

Gilly rightly pointed out that Ian Healy holds that honour after his poetic and thoughtful reminder to Desmond Haynes that he was indeed a "black c-nt".


So where to now for Australian cricket? Is this young slogger David Warner up to it in terms of racial vilification and ethnic cleansing? Phil Jacques seems a bit too multicultural to take on the Haydos mantle, so perhaps the selectors should look to Queensland for a fitting replacement. Shane Watson can’t bowl, bat or field, but he knows how to abuse an opponent.

[wycbloods]

i think it is a load of crap and not funny in the slightest. It labels Hayden a racist which i think is extremely unfair.

[Dirko]

i think it is a load of crap and not funny in the slightest. It labels Hayden a racist which i think is extremely unfair.

I agree. Biggest piece of shit writing I've ever read.....

[Hondo]

"Racist, selfish, sledger, geriatric, arthritic, flat track bully, dodged the world's best bowlers, over-rated"

All descriptions of Hayden I have heard over the last few months, now reaching a crescendo as his knockers feel vindicated

He's even been criticised for his retirement press conference and one caller to 5AA said he avoided the new ball ( )

We have sportspeople who intentionally have let themselves and their team-mates down in various ways in recent years yet they seem to have more support out there than this quiet, stable family man from QLD who loved playing cricket for his country, and did it to a very high level of performance.

Hayden's treatment over the last few months has been a disgrace. I said it before in this thread and I'll say it again.

[Lightning McQueen]

Who is Walter Slurry?

[Dogwatcher]

Hondo, I understand your anger at that satirical yarn up above.

However, what is your problem with questioning form?

[Hondo]

Hondo, I understand your anger at that satirical yarn up above.

However, what is your problem with questioning form?

My anger is not just at the yarn, it's also at people blogging on the newspaper web-sites and the callers into 5AA (some of them). Vitriolic, unbalanced character assassinations like Haydos has tortured their dog or kidnapped their kids.

I don't understand where all the anger comes from? Is it his sledging? If so, Warney and McGrath were the masters of it yet we think they are legends. What do you think is driving it? (Serious question I respect your opinions).

As to your question I've got no problem with questioning form. My issue this summer has been that we've zeroed in on one player and let others off, because they happen to be 3 years younger or because the fans love them. For example, Roy had off-field issues on top of poor on-field form yet barely a comment was raised. The Huss snuck through the summer hiding in Haydos' poor form shadow. I think we wanted a scape-goat for our poor results, and Haydos was it, because he's 37 and because he's never been the most popular player with the fans, for whatever reason.

[rod_rooster]

Hondo, I understand your anger at that satirical yarn up above.

However, what is your problem with questioning form?

My anger is not just at the yarn, it's also at people blogging on the newspaper web-sites and the callers into 5AA (some of them). Vitriolic, unbalanced character assassinations like Haydos has tortured their dog or kidnapped their kids.

I don't understand where all the anger comes from? Is it his sledging? If so, Warney and McGrath were the masters of it yet we think they are legends. What do you think is driving it? (Serious question I respect your opinions).

As to your question I've got no problem with questioning form. My issue this summer has been that we've zeroed in on one player and let others off, because they happen to be 3 years younger or because the fans love them. For example, Roy had off-field issues on top of poor on-field form yet barely a comment was raised. The Huss snuck through the summer hiding in Haydos' poor form shadow. I think we wanted a scape-goat for our poor results, and Haydos was it, because he's 37 and because he's never been the most popular player with the fans, for whatever reason.

Well said hondo. It has astounded me seeing the lack of respect shown to Hayden. He really has been singled out as you have said and i just can't figure out why. What has he ever done to deserve the bashings he has received from the media and general public this summer?

[Dogwatcher]

I don't think everybody has condemned Hayden, I would suggest you remembering the people hangin' sh*t on him is because it annoyed you.
There would have been quiet a few people ring up and back Haydos too but the human condition is such that the things we take the most notice of is the the thing that annoys us.
I see it everyday in my working life.

Personally, and I'm not saying that you have claimed I've sledged his character, I haven't had a crack at anything but his form. I reckon he's an all right bloke and as you pointed out Warne/McGrath are from the same sledging school as Haydos.
However, those two were pretty forthright about their sledging, so we knew that. When it came out that Haydos was a bit of a sledger, it surprised people, so of course it's going to draw comment. Also, having the strong Christian family man ethic, the fact he's a sledger would have surprised people. People, right or wrong, expect much more from someone who so openly proclaims himself a devout man.
I have no problem with sledging, unless it gets personal. Commenting on a person's technique, lack of ability or the position their team is in is fine.
You won't hear me complaining when the Aussies are on the end of it. You will hear me complaining when people make out it's only the Aussies that do it.

Hayden wasn't a scapegoat for me. To me his time was just up and we need to build for the future rather than carry him through. He had test series against two countries to prove that he was going to get back into form. He didn't prove it. Time for our selectors to take a chance and give someone a break like they did with Geoff Marsh, Mark Taylor and Michael Slater. In the past decade we haven't had too many problems finding an opening batsman - they have all done a serviceable job when given a chance.
As for Symonds, I'm glad he's out of the side. The only reason I'd have kept him in the side was that Watson was seemingly the only other choice in the selectors minds. Now that he and Watson are both injured, I'd rather an extra batter or bowler in the side, not a Pommy allrounder who is half good at one thing and half good at the other. They need to have one really strong discipline if they are to play as an allrounder.
Hussey? Yep, rubbish season but he's got hopefully a couple more in him and has never had a form slump before. Hondo, I'm sure you'd agree that booting two of our top order out at the same time, while our bowling line-up is also in a state of flux, wouldn't be a good move. Hussey will have to improve, otherwise people will be calling for his head.