Matthew Hayden criticises Cricket Australia for not promoting strong leadership culture

Matthew Hayden

Matthew Hayden has criticised Cricket Australia (CA) for their inability to promote a strong leadership culture within the Australian team, which was a trait held by so many of their teams in the past.

Hayden believed that a core group of individuals within the team needed to be identified to provide direction to the players. Hayden had been director of CA between 2009 and 2011 and had felt the need for a change in policy.

“If there is one element in my time that has lost its way, it’s the development of a leadership culture,” said Hayden.

“The fact that Michael Clarke was promoted at 21 to be the next captain was a mistake. Whilst I think he is now a natural choice as captain, I think it needed a lot more behind-the-scenes support and resources into developing a really strong, vibrant community of leaders.” he added.

During his playing days, Hayden was captained by a host of Australian greats like Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting, in an era where the team dominated world cricket.

“That is something I really enjoyed in my time – leadership forums, we had keynote presenters come into the group, a number of tasks in thinking as a captain, great role models in the current leaders, getting some net practice on that,” Hayden said, as reported by NDTV Sport.

“I said that when I was on the board, that was one of my key concerns.”

The unrest within the Australian team has become very visible to any observer of the game. On tour to India, the coach Mickey Arthur had been forced to suspend four Australian players, including vice-captain Shane Watson as they had failed to perform tasks asked of them. Hayden felt that it was time for CA to identify a strong group of leaders within the team.

“What we’ve seen recently, for example in India, is a bunch of guys just doing what they wanted to do, that just reeks of a poor leadership culture,” he explained. “If I was the boss, I’m James Sutherland (the chief executive of CA) now, I’m saying I want to put together the best leadership program the game has ever seen.”