- By Namrata Vijay
- Wed, 31 Dec 2025 09:43 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Ashes 2025: The 4th Ashes Test match between Australia and England has been criticised a lot as it got over within two days, where England won the match by 4 wickets and won the Test match for the first time in Australia in 14 years. The ICC rated this pitch as “unsatisfactory” owing to the presence of 10 mm grass, and that's why the batters of both teams were seen struggling. However, former Australian Matthew Hayden has slammed Australia's batting coach, Michael Di Venuto, for their batting collapses.
The Steve Smith-led side posted targets of 152 and 132 runs in both innings, and the visitors chased the target of 175 quite comprehensively. Hayden revealed that he doesn't like the current batting coach, as this is the one department the team has been struggling with for a long time, as players like Alex Carey and Marnus Labuschagne were struggling on both pacy and spin-friendly pitches.
It should be noted here that Di Venuto has tons of experience, as he has scored 25,200 runs in first-class cricket. But he didn't play for Australia owing to the emergence of some great players.
“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 was quoted as saying on the All Over Bar The Cricket podcast.
“I’m not a fan of him. It’s not a personal thing,” Hayden said of Di Venuto. “I just think for too long there has been an influence in this group around batting, and I don’t feel it’s served the development of the team or the technical element of Test cricket. Not just on green wickets but in the subcontinent, where we’ve been competitive but haven’t had the skill sets required to cope in those conditions,” he said.
‘Accountability’
Hayden, who was one of the world's best openers, has emphasized that it's time for someone to take accountability, as one can't get away with it all the time.
“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’ like in Delhi a couple of series ago. Every player was sweeping on a wicket that wasn’t turning an inch,” he added.
"You didn’t see Ricky Ponting batting at three, like Marnus Labuschagne is, throwing his wicket away. There is no fricken chance because … you would have your teammates and your former generation of players saying, ‘Bud, this is not the way we play cricket," he concluded.
The hosts have already retained the Ashes and are leading by 3-1, and the last Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground later this week.