Hayden's disappointment and outburst on Sachin's OBE

No doubt he was a good opener in his playing days – he greedily took part in IPL playing for CSK and tried advertising a specialized bat - designed to provide more power and more bat speed. When wielded by the big burly opener  at Chennai during the match practice, it looked like a tooth pick. A bat with shorter blade and longer handle !!!. –  it was the mongoose bat  with blade 33% shorter than the conventional one and the handle 43% longer – and the player was Matthew Hayden who is in news for his acrimonious criticism of the little master Sachin.

I had recently posted and circulated about  the visiting Australian PM Julia Gillard  conferring the membership of order of Australia on the greatest batsman Sachin Tendulkar. Ms Julia said,  “Cricket is of course a great bond between Australia and India. We are both cricket-mad nations. I am very pleased that we are going to confer on Sachin Tendulkar,the membership of the order of Australia ”

Federal independent MP Rob Oakeshott had raised voice of protest, proposing setting up a separate award for non-Australians the nation wants to honour.  Sure, his is not a lone voice – upset  at Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar getting the Order of Australia, former batsman Matthew Hayden said the honour should be “exclusive” to his countrymen. In a not so good sarcasm, he said - “Now, if Sachin was living in Australia — give him the Prime Minister’s gong I reckon — but the reality of it is he’s living in India,”.  “I think it should be exclusive to Australians…I’m not so sure. There’s things that are sacred amongst our country,” Hayden is quoted as saying.

If it were to be a honour of chivalry a la gallantry award not to be given for sportsman, his criticism would be understandable but it comes from a person who himself had enjoyed the honour be merely playing cricket and doing nothing else.  Hayden was one of the few Australian cricketers to have earned a similar honour, inducted in 2010 for services to cricket and the community alongside other countrymen like Sir Donald Bradman, Allan Border, Dennis Lillee, Max Walker, Bob Simpson, Keith Miller Steve Waugh, Justin Langer, Dean Jones, Belinda Clarke…..

Aussies have not been sportive on the field – will resort to all taunts including verbal.  Away from cricket, Australian cricket fans have also criticised their Prime Minister's decision citing Tendulkar's role in the monkeygate scandal involving the countries' cricket teams. Tendulkar was a key witness in the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds racism controversy in 2008.

For those not so update with cricket, Matthew Lawrence Hayden opened for Australia in Tests and ODI and  played for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season.  He was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.  Hayden holds the record for the highest score made by an Australian batsman in Tests (380). Hayden retired from all forms of cricket in September 2012, opting not to play in the Big Bash League (BBL) for the 2012-2013 season.

Like many other colleagues of his, he had displayed his naked aggression outside the field as well.  In the 2003 New Year's Test in Sydney against England, Hayden smashed a pavilion window in anger, after disagreeing with an umpire's decision to give him out. He was fined for this incident. He was a party to the controversy that emerged from the Second Test, 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy racism charges pressed by Australia against India, and was one of the witnesses for Andrew Symonds's charges against Harbhajan Singh. As a fallout, he called  Harbhajan,  an obnoxious little weed, and  invited  Ishant Sharma for a boxing bout, during an interview aired on Brisbane radio station; he was later reprimanded for his comment by Cricket Australia,but maintained his innocence.

He was strongly criticized by the BCCI and former Pakistan team captain Wasim Akram for reportedly calling India a third world country. Back home after a 2–0 series defeat by India, Hayden spoke about what he perceived to be poor ground conditions and inordinate delays during the matches "that happen in Third World countries”

Now unable to digest the honours to the greatest Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar he is sparring ugly words unable to hide his disappointment……

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.