Sydney [Australia], November 4 (ANI): Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden has criticised the Australian Test team's approach, suggesting that its prolonged success has led to complacency across all levels, including team management, coaching staff and players.
He called for greater accountability among those responsible for building and managing the team, while acknowledging Australia's impressive record in the World Test Championship, having won one title, reached three finals and finished among the top three in every completed qualifying cycle since 2019.
His remarks come after Australia lost their world number one Test ranking following a collapse in Cape Town against South Africa.
“The success, I feel, of this current group has probably made us a little complacent at all levels. It doesn't matter where you look at it. Administration, the so-called architects of the team - the coaches and the significant staff. The architects, I feel, at the moment, are pointed out in the discussion. They're not the only discussion because the architect can never build a house - the builders do, so you've got to look at the builders as well. Since the World Test Championship began back in 2019, Australia has won one title, they've reached three completed finals, and finished in the top three in every completed qualifying cycle," Hayden said as per SEN.
Hayden pointed out that while Australia's strong World Test Championship record could partly be attributed to the varying competitiveness of teams, the current cycle had become increasingly challenging.
He noted that Australia had slipped to third place with a 69.23 per cent points percentage, down from over 80 per cent before their South Africa tour. Hayden also highlighted the growing competition from other strong Test nations, particularly New Zealand, who had won the opening match of the cycle.
“Now, you could say that that's because the competition isn't that strong, and you could maybe mount that argument. Of the eight full member Test nations, generally speaking, there are four that are elite. Australia now are 69.23 per cent in this cycle, and they're currently third. They're back in the field. Before they went to South Africa, they were way out in front. They're 80 odd and more per cent. But now they're coming back into the field where they've got some bloody good teams, including New Zealand, who won the first match cycle," he added.
Hayden stressed that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, followed by the Ashes, would be a crucial test for Australian cricket. He urged the team's management and cricket administrators to use this challenging period to reassess their approach and develop a long-term strategy to strengthen and future-proof the game in Australia.
“Then we've got the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that's coming up, and we all know how hard it is as cricketers to compete over in that country, and then we've got the Ashes at the back of it. This is really a telling point for the Australian cricket team and the overall administration to understand how we're going to future-proof cricket in this great country, ” Hayden concluded. (ANI)
"Australia's success has made us complacent at all levels": Matthew Hayden sounds alarm ahead of India tour and Ashes
