Matthew Hayden rates James Anderson as ‘B-grade bowler’
Matthew Hayden was present during the alleged incident involving Michael Clarke, James Anderson and Damien Martyn © Getty Images
Sydney: Oct 18, 2012
Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden on Thursday slammed England pacer James Anderson, calling him “a B-grade bowler that got his arse whipped by Australia”.
Anderson revealed in his autobiography ‘Jimmy My Story’ of how egged on by Australian batsman Damien Martyn, he attacked Michael Clarke with a batsman’s pad in the dressing room after the Adelaide Ashes Test match in the 2006-07 series.
Hayden, who was in the Australian dressing room that time, told Triple M’s Rush Hour show that Anderson blew it out of proportion.
“This has been a big incident, hasn’t it? In reality James Anderson was a B-grade bowler that got his arse whipped by Australia that many times it’s not even funny,” Hayden said.
“Frankly, I actually don’t really care what Jimmy Anderson’s got to say, but he has frankly improved his bowling, thank goodness.”
Hayden also spoke about his clash with Martyn later that night, who announced his international retirement two days later.
“We’d been hammered over in England so I wasn’t pulling my punches, nor was anyone else in that particular series – you were either on board with Australia wanting to hand them the absolute whipping that they got, or you weren’t,” Hayden said.
Talking about Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar being honoured with the member of the Order of Australia, Hayden said, “The reality of it is he’s living in India. I can kind of get their point, but for me I think it should be exclusive to Australians.”