Century Specialist: In addition to making 30 Test centuries for Australia, Matthew Hayden shared in 30 century stands with fellow opener Justin Langer and long-time Australian No. 3 Ricky Ponting.

 

Foreword

Matthew Hayden

It’s amazing how people can click. Take Justin Langer and me. ‘Alfie’ and I are so different in so many ways, him on one side of the country and me on the other, yet I’m just about as close to him as my very own brother.

Despite what he may say, there’s no way he recognised me when I walked past him at the Gabba in the lead-up to a Shield game in the early 1990s. I’d been to the beach and was in boardies, thongs and a singlet. We nodded and said ‘G’day’. I’m sure he thought I was part of the groundstaff. He couldn’t believe it when I came out to bat the next day and started taking guard.

We had six wonderful years opening the batting together and when Alfie retired, it was never quite the same. Phil Jaques and ‘Kat’ (Simon Katich) were fine players and great blokes, but we just didn’t have that same feeling of kinship that ‘Alfie’ and I share.

And of all my achievements in the game, few gave me as much pleasure as pairing with Alfie. He’d take centre and when I got to the striker’s end, I’d cross it with a line to form the sign of a cross. When I was at the bowler’s end while he was preparing to face the first ball, I would mark centre and he would cross it when we changed ends. It was another anchor for us.

Opposing attacks found it difficult to bowl to us. Alfie loved to play his cut and pull shots. Anything short was meat and drink for him. I preferred the straighter full ones so I could hit the ball down the ground. It all went back to my backyard Tests inside and outside on the farm with my brother Gary. If it had got too dark to play outside, we’d duck inside into the pool room. We even drew white stumps on the wall, Mum’s only proviso was that no shots be made square of the wicket into her glass doors! The habits of hitting straight started then and there.

As bowlers looked to negate us, they would get straighter to Justin and wider to me and that brought other shots into play, Justin’s cover drive and me with the cut shot I hadn’t been allowed to play as a kid.

Funnily enough, probably our most memorable partnership – certainly one of the most important – wasn’t even a century. It was Day 1 of the 2006–07 summer against the Poms, the day Steve Harmison started with one so wide it was taken by Andrew Flintoff at second slip. I still remember the lead-up and all the tension that goes with the start of an Ashes series. They’d beaten us in England in 2005 and we were really keen to start well and keep them on the back foot. This day we started with 79 and we ended up making 600-plus. Winning 5-nil was a bonus none of us will ever forget.

That was the summer Warnie, Glenn McGrath and Alfie all retired, ending a fabulous era for Australian and cricket and one in particular for Alfie and me.

Seeing us on the front cover of Dynamic Duos brings back so many happy moments for me. Few could celebrate mid-pitch like us! Two grown men hugging each other after a team or individual milestone became a common occurrence – we were best mates and didn’t mind showing it!

The night before my 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth, I went around to Justin and Sue’s place and sat on the front lawn and we shared a big cigar to mark the start of the summer. We didn’t say much. We didn’t have to. We toasted absent friends and just stared at the stars.

We’re very lucky as the girls, Kellie and Sue, are the greatest of mates, too, which just adds to the mix. Christmases in Melbourne used to be fantastic for us all. One Christmas Eve, we shared mass together at Mazenod College with Father Pat Maroney, who had married Kell and me. If it was possible, it cemented our bond even more. It was a privilege when Justin and Sue asked Kell to be godmother to their youngest daughter, Grace.

We don’t catch up quite as often as we’d like, but when we do, the grins are genuine and the stories invariably embellished.

I’d like to again thank Ken Piesse for asking me to do a foreword to another of his books. His service to cricket is truly remarkable. He knows and loves the game like few I know. Alfie and I shared that same sort of passion and that was one of the reasons why we enjoyed so much success. In time another pair of Australian openers may come along and re-write the record books. I hope they do and if they have as much fun as Alfie and I enjoyed along the way, their time will also be unforgettable.

Matthew Hayden