HAYDEN RETIRES

[bluestheboy]

Crash reports that it has happened.
If so a great career, that will be remembered for all the right reasons.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24905280-5001023,00.html

[Footy Smart]

Very sad day for World Cricket.... He's been a great servant and a perfect reole model for any young batsmen his preperation and concentration is second to none. Good to see him go out now! Best memories are the 200+ run partnerships shared with Alfy and their total domination of attacks which IMO went a long way to setting the test victory records.

Well Done Haydos

[stan]

Well I would want to see it comfirmed on somehting more than the daily telegragh, maybe some toilet paper would be the next step up. jokes jokes.
Seriously now if this is true then I wish matt all the best in the future and thanks for all the memories. It was certaintly a stellar career. You would have to say he would be one of our countries best openers if not the the best!

[the big cheese]

well he finally pulled the pin. good on him for sticking it to the selectors to make the decision. he obviously thought he could get out of his form slump but selectors thought otherwise. he has been a real fighter and another bloke that has really had to really work hard to where he got to and has acheived. good on ya haydos!

[heater31]

Well I would want to see it comfirmed on somehting more than the daily telegragh, maybe some toilet paper would be the next step up. jokes jokes.
Seriously now if this is true then I wish matt all the best in the future and thanks for all the memories. It was certaintly a stellar career. You would have to say he would be one of our countries best openers if not the the best!

does Fox sports count? same journalist and it looks like the tele have cut and shut to suit themselves

Hayden draws stumps

[wycbloods]

Good to hear that he has decided to pull the pin to ensure that he is remembered for the right things that is one of the greatest opening batsmen to play for Australia. Well done on a great career and thanks for helping us dominate world cricket for so long.

[Dirko]

Farewell Haydos...an era comes to an end !

Good luck with what the future holds, will miss the big swash buckler !!

[Media Park]

Would've been nice for it to happen before the RSA series, but well done anyway..

[rod_rooster]

The end of an amazing career. Well done Haydos

[panther]

There will be many opinions as to whether he has made the right decision to retire, whether his injured leg was the reason, was it a recent spate of poor umpiring decisions against him etc etc.

When all the media experts gather to rave on about the reasons why he has retired there is one simple undeniable fact why this great man lost form.

It is not the bowlers who got the better of him it is the fact that he is 37 years old.

It is no disgrace to get too old to play sport, it simply happens to every sportsman

[Footy Smart]

Exactly no one can hold it against him for playing the RSA series. He felt that he could contribute and if the selectors agree then why not. Its a shame he could peel one last ton off.

[Dogwatcher]

He has made the right decision.
I'm glad he made the decision, rather than waiting for the chop.
An amazing player who brutalised bowlers with a technique that was considered inferior when he started out on his test journey.
Interestingly he finished his career against the country he started it against.

Thanks Haydos.

[Tooting Bec]

It's not exactly like we won't see him dominating attacks still. I think he is contracted to his team in the ipl for another two series?

Well done though Haydo, out and out champion.

[Hondo]

It's easy to be expert in hindsight and say he should have pulled the pin earlier. Steve Waugh was about the same age, and in the same career position, when he peeled off that century v England in Sydney. He then played another 2 years.

Very few opening batsman average over 50 over 103 tests while scoring 8,625 runs. He was a key part of one of our most successful eras, well done Haydos

IMO, this season he's been crucified by media and fans spoiled by 15 years of us winning everything.

[Rik E Boy]

Good on ya Haydos. If only the people sledging you recently were even a tenth as good as you.

regards,

REB

[FD88]

Don't know what to say really. One of the finest players to grace the game who was part of so many unforgettable moments in Aussie cricket. Watching him advance down the pitch to a cocky Ishant Sharma and belt him into the stands last summer, his 150 against the poms, even in the twilight years he was entertaining us.

[Dogwatcher]

IMO, this season he's been crucified by media and fans spoiled by 15 years of us winning everything.

To paraphrase something a wise man said to me this morning - a musician can't keep playing if he loses his skills, sportspeople are no different.

[shoe boy]

Thanks for the memory's Hados

[Hondo]

IMO, this season he's been crucified by media and fans spoiled by 15 years of us winning everything.

To paraphrase something a wise man said to me this morning - a musician can't keep playing if he loses his skills, sportspeople are no different.

Yes, you've been on his back all year DW.

Your wise friend doesn't know if it was a form slump or a permanent skills deterioration anymore then you or I do.

There's been enough cricketers play beyond 37 over the years that such a great player can be given the benefit of the doubt. I just gave you the Steve Waugh example. Our best exponent of the technical art of leg spin bowling could probably still take 10-fors in test cricket at the age of 40.

His stats this season were only marginally worse than Mike Hussey. Does your wise friend think the Huss can still strum the chords?

[silicone skyline]

Form slumps at 37 are pretty hard to get out of Hondo.

For months now he's been late on the ball, getting struck on the pad far too often, mistiming his once elegant cover drives.

He lost his ability to mentally disintegrate bowlers and it's not something you can just get back with time in the nets.

He's known for weeks now there was pressure on him and he couldn't deliver when the chips were down and IMO he's lost it.

Why people struggle to let him go is beyond me.

This is for the BENEFIT and PROGRESS of Australian cricket.

Aside from liking him, stand back and look.

He's half the batsman we knew, now.

He's like the dog you've had for 15 years who gets sick, sure you can send him to the vet, but what are you gonna get out of him, there's only so long you can prolong the pain before the inevitable.

I'll always hold Hayden in the highest regard in my memory but it's time.

He's had his chances, and a great time in the sun.

Time for change and all you saps out there that still cry foul because things are changing, go back to riding your horse and cart, this is progress whether you like it or not.

Well done Hayden.