Matthew Hayden’s Daughter Grace Reacts After Joe Root Saves Great From ‘Walking Nude In Melbourne’ D..
Australia great Matthew Hayden, by his own admission, had his ‘skin’ in the Ashes Test series this time around. Ahead of the high-voltage Ashes series, cricketer-turned-commentator Hayden made a bizarre claim that he would walk naked around the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) if veteran batter Joe Root failed to hit a century in this series. Back in September, speaking on a podcast on YouTube, Hayden said: “I will walk nude around the MCG if he doesn’t make a hundred this summer.”
Commenting on the quote, Hayden’s daughter Grace, who is a cricket commentator, said: “Please @root66 make a hundred.” To Hayden’s relief, Root slammed a fantastic century on Day 1 of the pink-ball Australia vs England Test at the Gabba.
Even Grace was relieved. “Root, thank you, you’ve saved all our eyes,” she posted on Instagram stories.
Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden congratulated Joe Root after England’s ace batter scored his maiden Test hundred on Australian soil during Day 1 of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane on Thursday.
“Congratulations mate on a hundred here in Australia. Took you a while and there was no one that had more skin in the game than me, literally. I was backing you for a hundred in a good way. So congratulations, ten fifties and finally a hundred. You little ripper mate. Have a beauty and bloody enjoy it,” Hayden said in a video shared by England Cricket on X.
(1) @HaydosTweets has something he’d like to say to Joe Root pic.twitter.com/0yPGk7JC5S
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 4, 2025
Root reached his maiden hundred on Australian soil in 181 deliveries. Overall, it was Root’s 40th hundred in the longest format.
The former England captain took 30 innings to reach his maiden hundred in Australia.
The great batter became the second English player, after Maurice Leyland, to score a century on the opening day of a Gabba Test. Overall, Root became the eighth batter to hit a Test hundred for England at the Gabba.
At stumps on Day 1, England were 325/9 in 74 overs. Joe Root (135 off 202 balls, including 15 fours and one six) and Jofra Archer (32 off 26 balls, with one four and two sixes) were unbeaten at the crease.
For Australia, Mitchell Starc claimed his second five-wicket haul in the ongoing Ashes series. Overall, it was his 18th fifer in Test cricket.
Topics mentioned in this article
