Australian cricket legend Matthew Hayden believes that the absence of David Warner will be felt immensely by the Australian team in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India. Warner, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket after an illustrious career, has left a void that Hayden feels will be challenging to fill. Warner’s contribution to the Australian cricket team is significant, having played 112 Tests and scoring 8786 runs with an impressive average close to 45.
“For the first time, it doesn’t feel as secure,” Hayden, a left-handed opener like Warner, remarked on Wednesday. “David Warner gave a great service to Australian cricket. He was extremely competitive, wonderfully dynamic. He really took that legacy that I’d created through the 2000s. His strike rates in excess of 80 (70.19) gave great momentum to the top order which, otherwise, is quite conservative. So I think he’s an enormous loss in terms of how do you replace them.”
Warner has had considerable success against India in the past, playing 21 Tests and accumulating 1218 runs at an average of 31.23 with four centuries, all of which were scored on home soil where he amassed 760 runs in 10 Tests. His aggressive batting style has been pivotal in giving the Australian innings a strong start, a factor that Hayden thinks will be sorely missed.
Hayden, who was in Mumbai for the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards, also expressed his reservations about the possibility of Steve Smith being moved up the order to open the batting. He elaborated on his views by stating, “The rationale that George Bailey [chief selector] gave was correct. He thought it was about choosing his best top six players, batsman. Now, you can’t argue with that. Steve Smith averages 65 (56.97) and has 30 (32) Test match hundreds. You know the role of an opening batsman compared to a middle order batsman is very different. It didn’t take long to discover that [in New Zealand earlier in the year when Smith as an opener was not exactly a success]. I said at the time that I didn’t like the change. I think it’s crazy to think that you have the world’s best-in-class batter in a certain position.
. And then you change to a completely different position.”
Apart from the batting line-up concerns, Hayden also touched upon leadership within the Australian team. He hailed Pat Cummins as potentially one of the greatest captains Australia has produced. “He’s a great of our game,” Hayden said of Cummins, who has led Australia to victories in both the World Cup and the World Test Championship (WTC). “He has a very special leadership style and ability. It’s very different from the former kind of captains of the Australian team that were very much a carrot and stick type approach. He’s operating on a model that’s bringing out the individuals’ preparation in particular, something in which I think our game struggles, being a team sport. Ultimately, [it’s] how you get the best out of an individual. He has a slightly off-centre approach. I followed this team now very closely over the last two years, and they’re an extremely close team. Pat is a great leader, and he will go down as one of our greats.”
Another significant point Hayden brought up was the format of the series itself. He favored a five-Test series against India, which he believes can be more thrilling than a shorter series. “It’s going to be an unbelievable series and actually not without great minds coming together. It is even more special by extending it to five Test matches. In three Test matches you always feel half pregnant; in four Test matches there’s always that swinging boat whereas in five Test matches, you got a chance to win. You also get a chance to lose and then you get a chance to come back and win. I love it. It’s going to be a great series.”
Historically, India and Australia have not played a five-Test series since the 1991/92 season. The much-anticipated series is set to kick off in Perth on November 22, followed by matches in Adelaide (from December 6), Brisbane (from December 14), Melbourne (from December 26), and Sydney (from January 3). India has won the last two series in Australia, in 2018/19 and 2020/21, and Australia has not captured the Border-Gavaskar Trophy since their home series in 2014/15.
The upcoming series is sure to be an electrifying contest between two cricketing giants, but Matthew Hayden’s insights underline that the absence of a dynamic player like David Warner could indeed leave a mark on Australia’s performance.