4 days ago
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Aussie cricket legend Matthew Hayden has made a pact with his former team-mate Greg Blewett that he’ll walk around the MCG naked if Joe Root doesn’t get a hundred during the 2025 Ashes.
Much of the pre-series chatter has related to Root's indifferent form Down Under, with the ex-England skipper never having scored a century against the Baggy Greens in Australia.
It’s an incredible statistic, considering the 34-year-old sits second, behind Sachin Tendulkar, as the second-highest run scorer in Test cricket, with Root amassing a whopping 13,543.
Several Aussie news outlets have targeted Root in the past week, with The West Australian branding him ‘Average Joe’ and a ‘Dud Root Down Under’.
However, Queensland star and former Australia opening batter, Hayden, thinks otherwise, naming Root in his all-time favourite English middle-order batsmen.
‘He [Root] is the most complete package in the England side,’ Hayden told Blewett and James Brayshaw during an episode of the All Over Bar The Cricket podcast.
Aussie cricket legend Matthew Hayden (pictured) has claimed that he'll run around the MCG naked if Joe Root doesn't score a century this summer Down Under
Much of the pre-series chatter has related to Root's (pictured) indifferent form Down Under, with the ex-England skipper never having scored a century against the Baggy Greens in Australia
Blewett, though, appeared to infuriate Hayden by leaving Root out of his all-time best English top order.
Blewett, an all-rounder who scored 2,552 runs at Test level, named Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook as his best English openers. Jonathan Trott was his favourite No 3 batsman. Blewett picked Graham Thorpe at No 4, before picking Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff at five and six.
‘I can’t believe you don’t have Joe Root in your team?’ Hayden asked Blewett.
Blewett, who also played cricket for South Australia, Kent, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, held up a circle with his fingers.
‘Mate, I had that up,’ Blewett said, raising the ‘0’.
‘That’s how many hundreds he’s made in Australia from 14 Tests... Zero!’
But Hayden disagreed with the 54-year-old. He went on to point out that Root's average against Australia, both home and away, is 40 runs per game, adding that his highest score in England against the Aussies is 180.
‘I’ll talk to you at the end of this summer,’ Hayden said to Blewett.
Hayden (pictured) clashed with Greg Blewett, who disagreed that Root was inside the top English middle-order batters of all time
Blewett (pictured) referenced Root's inability to score a century Down Under, raising a big '0' with his fingers
Root has been slammed by Aussie media since arriving Down Under, with The West Australian branding him 'Average Joe'
‘I’ll walk nude around the MCG if he doesn’t get a hundred this summer,' Hayden said.
Root comes into this series off the back of a hat-trick of tons against India, but Blewett was still adamant that the Yorkshireman misses out on his top order.
‘We’re picking it now, not in six month's time!’ he said.
Hayden replied: ‘So you’re leaving out a bloke who's got 13,500 runs in Test cricket.’
Hayden later lifted the lid on the bet when asked on The Willow Talk podcast how he’d feel if Joe Root got into the nineties during the summer. Hayden replied, noting he would not be getting completely naked: 'I’ll be nuding up, with some pride though.’
‘Because around the ‘G I’ll be interchanging my footy shorts.
‘I’ll start with the Broncos. I’ll go to Queensland and I’ll come back with the Lions, assisted with the victory lap.
He then joked that he would replicate how he once stripped off on a cable car ride up Table Mountain, with only an Australian flag protecting his dignity.
However, Root comes into this series off the back of a hat-trick of tons against India, but Blewett was still adamant that the Yorkshireman misses out on his top order
‘Or just waving around like I was on the top of Table Mountain, with the Aussie flag going hard.
‘I hope Joe Root does find his feet in this country. It’ll be a much better series if their No 4 and our No 4 having rising stocks through the series.
‘They’re the kind of only certainty from both teams, in my opinion.
‘If Smudgey and Rooty get going in this series, it’s going to be something special.
‘It’ll go into sort of fifth day, which is exactly what you want when it comes to Ashes cricket.’
