Matthew Hayden fractures foot

[Whoskins]

Heard that Matthew Hayden fractured his foot in today's ODI vs. New Zealand (scored 181 not out) and did not field. Another injury concern for the Australian's in the lead up to the World Cup. Not much going right.

[Whoskins]

Looks like a fractured toe.

Hayden's record not enough to stop rot
Malcolm Conn
February 21, 2007
The Australian

A WOUNDED Matthew Hayden suffered insult upon injury as his record score failed to ensure Australia victory last night, when New Zealand completed a humiliating 3-0 whitewash in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.
Hayden bludgeoned his way into the record books with a brutal batting display yesterday, but his World Cup is in doubt because of a fractured right big toe.
The powerful Queenslander broke it smashing his way to the highest one-day score by an Australian, 181 not out, from 165 balls.

Then a weakened but spirited New Zealand ran down Australia's seemingly safe 5-346, scoring 9-350 to win with three balls to spare, again exposing Australia's dreadful inability to protect big scores. New Zealand recovered from 4-41, then 5-116.

The Kiwis chased down 4-336 in Auckland on Sunday. Australia now has the four highest run chases in history registered against it in little more than a year.

The downtrodden Australians fly home this morning and Hayden will see a specialist in Brisbane later today as a worrying injury count continues to rise.

With the team due to leave for the Caribbean next Wednesday, Hayden is expected to join Andrew Symonds as a late World Cup starter, while Brett Lee remains in grave doubt.

Michael Clarke was forced to fly home from New Zealand on Saturday with a persistent hip strain, but is expected to be fit to depart with the team.

New Zealand's Craig McMillan brought up the fastest century by a New Zealander (67 balls) with successive sixes from the left-arm finger spin of debutant Adam Voges (0-33 from three overs).

It beat the 71-ball century scored by big-hitting all-rounder Jacob Oram in Perth less than a month ago, which was also against Australia.

McMillan made 117 from 96 balls with 13 fours and five sixes, his highest score in 187 one-day matches.

He shared a world-record equalling 165-run sixth wicket partnership with Brendon McCullum (86 not out in 89 balls) in just 147 balls.

McCullum hit a six from the first ball of the final over to tie the scores before hitting a four two balls later to win the match.

It was Australia's fifth successive one-day loss, the worst run for a decade and just one short of its worst losing sequence.

Hayden's amazing innings beat the 173 Mark Waugh made against the West Indies at the MCG in 2001, with the left-hander's 10 sixes on the small Hamilton ground also a record by an Australian. It passed the nine skipper Ricky Ponting hit against South Africa in Johannesburg last year.

Remarkably, Hayden may have failed to reach either milestone had he not been crippled by a yorker from expensive Kiwi seamer Mark Gillespie (2-83).

Limping badly on 102, Hayden called for a runner, Shane Watson, then simply proceeded to stand and deliver, clubbing his last 79 runs from just 38 balls with six sixes and four fours.

Given most other batsmen cleared the boundary at least once for a total of 16, Australia equalled the one-day team record for sixes set by New Zealand in Zimbabwe last year.

Having sealed the competition, New Zealand treated last night's match with the same contempt Australia has shown toward the whole series, resting its two best bowlers, Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori. The Kiwis were also without Oram, who broke his finger in the opening match of this tournament. He is expected to be fit for the World Cup.

With Glenn McGrath resting from yesterday's match, allowing Mitchell Johnson to play, Australia was without six of its first choice players.

Australia's loss adds to the confusion of an increasingly uncertain World Cup campaign.

Hayden and the promoted Watson (68 in 69 balls) had an opening partnership of 122, creating a logjam at the top of the Australian order and reinforcing yet again that Watson's best position is opening.

Watson's half-century was his fourth opening the batting in just eight matches and he now averages almost 42 at the top of the order, compared to 30 elsewhere during a 57-match career.

With Australia's best and most damaging opener of all time, Adam Gilchrist, due to slot back into the side early in the World Cup campaign, the selectors must now decide whether to drop the wicketkeeper down the order.

Gilchrist had a disappointing Tri-nations one-day series, averaging just 22 across the 10 matches.

There have been mixed messages from Australia's hierarchy about what to do with Watson.

Just days before leaving on this short, disappointing and unnecessary tour, coach John Buchanan claimed Watson would open in place of the resting Gilchrist.

Yet when the team arrived in New Zealand, acting captain Mike Hussey said that, after talking to Ponting, Watson would bat at No.7 to learn more about the art of finishing an innings because that's where he would bat in the World Cup.

So after scoring eight in Australia's first loss, in Wellington, and not batting in the second in Auckland on Sunday, Watson was promoted for this match when it didn't matter.

He replaced Phil Jaques, himself a late replacement for the injured Clarke. Jaques had scores of just one and three, perishing both times during outstanding opening spells from Bond.

Watson appeared to seal his spot at the top of the order with some strong performances in the Champions Trophy.

However lingering hamstring problems ruled Watson out for almost all the Australian summer, allowing Hayden to reclaim his one-day position with a century and an average of 43 during the Tri-Nations series.