Matthew Hayden takes broom onto Delhi pitch to mock Aussies

An Aussie cricket legend has been seen in an apparent act of mockery, piling further humiliation on the under-fire Aussie Test team.

If you don’t laugh at the Australian failures on the tour of India, you might cry — and that seems to be Matthew Hayden’s approach to dealing with the pain of yet another subcontinental batting collapse.

Hayden, incredulous at witnessing the loss of nine wickets in 91 minutes of play during the first session on Day 3, ripped into the Australian’s use of the sweep after six of their ten dismissals came via the cross-bat shot.

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“What we’ve seen here is a disaster for Australia,” he said.

“It’s a disaster because they’ve gone way over the edge in terms of their aggressive play.

“What professional in life just hopes?

“No way.

“You’ve got to have a method and you have to think on your feet.

Michael Clarke (right) and Matthew Hayden (centre) had great success as teammates, whitewashing England 5-0 in the 2006-7 Ashes. Former Australian coach Justin Langer is also pictured (left). (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

Michael Clarke called for the former opener to be brought into the Australian coaching setup, but Hayden might not be so readily welcomed after he was spotted mocking the Australians after the Delhi Test.

Haydos was snapped taking a broom out to the middle of the Feroz Shah Kotla for a Star Sports segment, seemingly making fun of the Aussies’ sweep-happy tactics.

In Nagpur, the pitch was watered after the Test. This week in Delhi, Matthew Hayden has taken a big broom out to the middle #INDvsAUSpic.twitter.com/euu9KPwtVn

— Oliver Caffrey (@ollycaffrey) February 19, 2023

Speaking on News Corp’s ‘Cricket Et Cetera’ podcast alongside Gideon Haigh and Peter Lalor, Hayden said the sweep shot in Delhi was fraught with danger.

“The ball not going over the stumps means you can only sweep on line,” he said.

“You’ve got to see what the Indian batsmen do and that’s come down to the ball.

“Once you start moving your feet, then they might start tossing it wide, then the sweep shot might be an option.

“I’m never a big fan of saying don’t sweep.

“I think that’s the wrong mentality because you already saw how productive the shot was.

“I’m just saying don’t sweep every ball.”

Hayden famously used the sweep to great effect on the 2001 tour of India, leading the series run tally with 549 runs at an average of 109.80.

He attributes his success to having attended a spin camp in 1999 under the supervision of Bishen Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna in Chennai.

Matthew Hayden recently coached the Pakistan men’s team during the T20 World Cup in Australia, helping them to the final. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)

Matthew Hayden swept with great success on the 2001 tour of India.

Two years later Hayden scored a magnificent 203 in Chennai in the third Test of the 2001 series.

Brett Geeves wrote in 2017 for Fox Sports of Hayden’s meticulous preparation for the tour, saying he “spent six months without sleep hitting sweep shots” on that “ruggedly prepared” practice wicket in Brisbane to emulate the conditions in the subcontinent.

“I am told that Hayden would replicate a full day’s play by having spinners bowl to him for two hours from 10:30 to 12:30 - before stopping for a 40 minute lunch and going again for a two-hour session,” Geeves wrote.

Australia head into the third Test in Indore in a state of turmoil and the series unwinnable, with captain Pat Cummins flying home for personal reasons.

Meanwhile, fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has left the tour completely, having failed to recover from an Achilles injury.

Veteran David Warner could also yet still fly home, with scans revealing a hairline fracture in his arm on top of his concussion woes, having copped a barrage of brutal short bowling from India’s pace attack in Delhi.