2 months ago
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Former Test opener Matthew Hayden has called for Australian batting coach Michael Di Venuto to be held to account for failing to provide the technical guidance needed for the side’s struggling top order.
In the aftermath of Australia’s defeat to England inside two days in the fourth Test in Melbourne, Hayden said the home side’s efforts on a difficult MCG surface were “unacceptable” after they were rolled for 152 and 132 in 79.5 overs – the first time in 97 years Australia have lost 20 wickets in fewer overs in a Test.
Hayden also made the extraordinary claim that Australia’s bowlers possess better techniques than the recognised batters.
“That’s an unacceptable scorecard. I don’t care if it was 50 millimetres of grass. You need to be better than that,” Hayden said on the All Over Bar The Cricket podcast. “Head, Weatherald, Labuschagne, Khawaja, Carey, Green; they’re all at sea with their basic techniques. The only technical thing I see is coming from our bowlers, who look more technically sound than our batters. Why is that?”
The 103-Test opener pointed the finger at Di Venuto, who took on the role after a first-class career in which he scored more than 25,000 runs.
“I’m not a fan of him. It’s not a personal thing,” Hayden said of Di Venuto. “I just think for too long there has been an influence in this group around batting, and I don’t feel it’s served the development of the team or the technical element of Test cricket. Not just on green wickets but in the subcontinent, where we’ve been competitive but haven’t had the skill sets required to cope in those conditions.
Australian batting coach Michael Di Venuto.Credit: PA
“As much as I like ‘Diva’, I feel like there has to be some change, because I don’t want to be sitting here on this podcast in two years going, ‘Well we’ve got all these technical difficulties’.
“At some point, you have to take accountability. That’s the piece I really struggle with the most. It’s like, ‘Yep, it’s green, therefore we’re going to play a certain way’. Or, ‘It’s spinning’ [like in] Delhi a couple of series ago. Every player was sweeping on a wicket that wasn’t turning an inch.
“The faceless man in this cricket team is always an issue. Michael Di Venuto has been there at least five years. We need some generationally different voices in that mentality of how you play.”
Hayden’s broadside follows comments from former teammate Ian Healy earlier this year that Australia’s top order had “regressed”, remarks that prompted Steve Smith to publicly defend Di Venuto.
Former Test great Matthew Hayden.Credit: Getty Images
“Any criticism of ‘Diva’, [I am] completely against it,” Smith said in June. “He works as hard as anyone. He knows batting inside out.”
Hayden also singled out Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green after they contributed 50 runs between them across four innings.
“You didn’t see Ricky Ponting batting at three, like Marnus Labuschagne is, throwing his wicket away. There is no fricken chance because … you would have your teammates and your former generation of players saying, ‘Bud, this is not the way we play cricket’,” Hayden said.
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“There seems to be this trend that players get themselves out of form for long periods of time. Look at Cam Green. He’s now out of form horribly and he is not getting, I don’t think, the technical advice that is required for a player of his standard. He is a superstar in the making.”
On the same podcast, former Test opener Greg Blewett said he would drop Green for a one-off occasion at SCG, with the all-rounder averaging 21.8 across four matches this series.
“With the Test series won and with so much Test cricket going to be played in the next 18 months … he’s never been dropped from the team. He’s only missed Tests through injury,” Blewett said.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to send him a bit of a message and say, ‘Your spot in the side is not automatic’.”
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