Aussie All time XI

[Rachael]

LOL - can I get a reference for that.. I'd love to know the context! Alas, I fear it might be in relation to the Botham of the mid-late 80s and beyond.. when few would disagree. If he genuinely thought that of the Botham of 1977-82 (and had no regard whatsoever for the guy's ability to move the ball both ways in the air) then I'd be intrigued to find out why!

[Leafy Seadragon]

Milo, having said that, it wasn't unusual at that time (or now for that matter) for batsmen to start their test career in their early to mid twenties. He made his first class debut during the war (1940/41) and would have been unlikely to feature in tests at least for a couple of years, so at most probably lost three years of his early test career (debatable even then).

I agree on the whole of career statement and also think that averages etc tell only part of the story. To a degree the whole of career comment is possibly also applicable to Hayden of late, whose hunger (or lack thereof) has been questioned by several commentators. The fact that for a period (several years, not just one or two series) Hayden was the world's dominant batsman puts him in the very top bracket for me. He might be limited in some of his strokeplay, but so what. MArk Waugh V Steve Waugh was the classic case for me of a better batsman not being the more fluent to watch

[Milo]

Point taken on the Morris issue, LS. I think we can agree that his test career was probably only slightly cut short (if at all). Other players were clearly penalised a lot more.

This year's Ashes will be a big question for Matty Hayden in my opinion. His only other Ashes tour (during his three year spell) was pretty poor - in fact it was his worst series in that period. He will want to succeed. He should be well and truly hungry. A really good series here might cement his position in Aussie history once and for all.