McGrath urges Australian batsmen to emulate Hayden for India tour success

In his 22 innings in India in Tests, Matthew Hayden had scored 1027 runs at an average of 51.35 and was a constant thorn in the side for the Indian spinners. The big southpaw added the sweep shot to his armory especially for Indian wickets, and it turned out to be his biggest run getter.

Speaking about Australian batsmen’s recent struggle in the sub-continent, Glenn McGrath has pointed out how they have forgotten the use of the sweep shot. He said, "You still have to look at ways to score and to have the intent of scoring, and I think (former Test opener) Matty Hayden was the perfect example. He didn't do as well as he would have liked in the sub-continent when he first started, didn't really have a sweep shot.

"(But) he developed a very good sweep shot and became a great sweeper, all of a sudden he had a weapon that he would use against their bowlers and did exceptionally well in the sub-continent.

I don't see too many of our batsmen sweeping anymore. I noticed when I was commentating for the Matador BBQs (One-Day) Cup that there weren't many guys playing sweep shots.

McGrath

"I don't see too many of our batsmen sweeping anymore. I noticed when I was commentating for the Matador BBQs (One-Day) Cup that there weren't many guys playing sweep shots. I'd like to see guys in the team develop that shot like Matty Hayden did. So they need to come up with a plan. At the moment, it's like the plans they are using aren't working or I'm not sure what the plan is,” McGrath was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

During their tour of Sri Lanka last year, the Australian batsmen failed to make any impact which led to them receiving a hammering at the hands of the hosts. McGrath feels that it is the Australian batsmen who have struggled to adjust to sub-continental conditions more than their bowlers.

"Our batsmen have been more the issue in the sub-continent, they don't know whether to attack or to defend. At times they look like they over-attack, and at times they look like they over-defend - there's no in-between.

"In Sri Lanka, it just seemed that they went really hard or they just closed up shop. And they tried different things but it didn't work, so they have to come up with a plan of 'okay, what shots are we going to play to keep the score rotating'," he explained.

The fast-bowling legend feels Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc’s performances will determine Australia’s fate in the upcoming four-match Test series against India, which is scheduled to start from February 23.

"(Hazlewood is) tall, strong, and hits good areas. As long as he keeps bowling good areas and working on that bounce.

"I think sometimes he's working on swing rather than bounce and getting that carry through. Once he really settles down and gets to know his game back to front I think he'll be really good."

"Ninety-nine times out of a hundred it's still hitting the deck, hitting the top of off stump," he said. "A lot of people think that must be easy, but it's a slightly different length on every wicket.

"There's not going to be two wickets where it's just the same length, so you have to adjust to the conditions and that's where I felt I could adjust quite well," McGrath added.