Earlier this week, Cricket Australia officially stated that some major players will not take part in the upcoming series against Pakistan.
The players – David Warner, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins – have been rested for white ball series. Australia’s 16 men’s squad has some new young faces in it.
Following the disastrous first leg of the 2021 IPL, seven Australian players withdrew from white-ball tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh last year.
Meanwhile, Justin Langer’s high-profile resignation generated a discussion over whether players wielded too much power over CA Board decisions.
Players have been in constant discomfort due to the pandemic for the last 18 months. The hectic schedule and travel bubble didn’t allow players to live with individuality.
Hayden, as an assistant coach, helped Pakistan to produce a good performance in the T20 World Cup last year. Further, he shares his thoughts on the harmful effects of the “cherry-pick” method of allowing players to decide which match they will play and which they will not.
“When players are choosing not to play for their country it is a massive flag of concern for your high-performance set-up. I just don’t reckon it passes the pub test. The single biggest thing which ties everything together at that level is that you are all really keen to play for your country and if you haven’t got that, I actually question whether you have a high performance culture at all,” Hayden further remarked.
The former opening batter also urged that contracted cricketers’ salaries be reduced if they opt out of an international series.
Hayden’s comments came amid rising anxiety over the international white-ball cricket’s declining significance. Evidently, the shorter format has experienced decreasing audience attendance since Fox Sports and Channel 7 gained the broadcast rights in 2018.
Hayden was among a slew of cricket legends who lambasted current players in the aftermath of Langer’s highly publicised exit following Australia’s T20 World Cup victory and 4-0 Ashes series success over England.