Matthew Hayden - Stats Analysis (Tests)

Top of the Tree and (Nearly) the Mountain

Perhaps the most gratifying moment of Hayden's career came when he blasted 380 against a hapless Zimbabwean bowling attach at Perth in 2003 to briefly hold the record for the highest Test score (Lara overtook him 6 months later). In the two-Test rubber, Hayden plundered 501 runs at a strike rate of 89.3!. At the end of the rubber, the Zimbabwe players would surely not have wanted to see more of him soon.

But this is not the only time when Haydos (nearly) claimed the top spot in batting's pecking order. Almost a year prior to this momentous innings, Hayden reached 935 points in the ICC rankings table, which is the fourth highest rating points achieved by any Australian batsman after Bradman (961), Steve Smith (947) and Ricky Ponting (942).

Highest Rating Points for Australian Batsmen (Qual - 900 or higher)