"I'm not a fan of him": Matthew Hayden's blunt remark on Australia batting coach Michael Di Venuto

New Delhi [India], January 1 (ANI): Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden has said that he is not a fan of current Australian batting coach Michael Di Venuto. Hayden made the blunt remark to SEN Cricket after Australia's poor batting performance in the Fourth Ashes Test against England in Melbourne, which the visitors won by four wickets.
The match ended in just two days, and Australia were bowled out for 152 and 132 in both innings. None of the Australian batters reached 50 in the game. Seamer Michael Neser top-scored for Australia in the first innings, while Travis Head managed the most runs in the third innings.
Di Venuto has been in his current position since mid-2021, following a 3-4-year stint as Head Coach at Surrey in the United Kingdom. However, Australian legend Hayden hasn't seen any improvement in the side's top order under his watch.
"That's an unacceptable scorecard. I don't care if it was 50 millimetres of grass. You need to be better than that. Head, Weatherald, Labuschagne, Khawaja, Carey, Green; they're all at sea with their basic techniques. The only technical thing I see is coming from our bowlers, who look more technically sound than our batters. Why is that?" Hayden said on the All Over Bar The Cricket podcast as quoted by SEN cricket.
"The faceless men in this cricket team is always an issue. Michael Di Venuto has been there for at least five years ... we need some generationally different voices that sit in that mentality of how you play. I'm not a fan of him. It's not a personal thing, I just think, for too long, there has been an influence in this group around batting, and I don't feel it's served either the development of the team or the technical element of Test match cricket," Hayden added.
After Australia's poor batting performance at Melbourne, Hayden has called out side's lack of skills in challenging conditions, and he thinks Di Venuto must be accountable for.
"And it's not just on green wickets -- it's also in countries like the subcontinent, where we've been competitive but ultimately haven't had the skill sets required to really cope in those conditions. As much as I like 'Diva', I feel like there has to be some change, because I don't want to be sitting here on this podcast in two years going, 'Well we've got all these technical difficulties'," Hayden added.
"At some point, you have to take accountability. That's the piece I really struggle with the most. It's like, 'Yep, it's green, therefore we're going to play a certain way'. Or, 'It's spinning' (as it did in) Delhi a couple of series ago. Every player was sweeping on a wicket that wasn't turning an inch," Hayden said.
Meanwhile, Australia retained the Ashes after taking a 3-1 lead in the ongoing five-match Test series. The hosts clinched victories in Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide. The Three Lions bounced back and secured a memorable win at the iconic MCG. The fifth and final Test will be hosted in Sydney on January 4. (ANI)