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‘Vision Is Not There’: Matthew Hayden 'Criticizes' Australia’s Performance Vs SA

image-lno7k7ttAustralia lost their second consecutive game in the World Cup 2023. (AP)

Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden didn't mince words when expressing his concerns about the performance of the Pat Cummins-led Australian team in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.

In a disappointing turn of events, the five time World Champions, Australia suffered their second consecutive loss in the tournament on October 12, falling short by 134 runs against South Africa. Their campaign began with a defeat by seven wickets, at the hands of India in Chennai on October 8.

Hayden criticises Australia

Hayden's critique that Australia had yet to establish a clear vision for this tournament. He remarked that they seemed to be relying on hope rather than a well-defined strategy.


"Australia have won this tournament five times and that's an enormous effort and achievement for generations. But right now, there's a great sense of how are Australia going to win a game during this World Cup. It's had a very slow start, tad selection changes already and that for me just means that the vision or the map of how Australia are going about this tournament has not been really laid out,"  Matthew Hayden was quoted as saying on air by Wisden.com.

The ex-World Cup winner underscored that there was an element of hope rather than a solid grasp of their team's strengths guiding their approach. Hayden also emphasized the need for strong leadership to address the current situation.

"It is almost hoping rather than understanding and knowing exactly the strength of its team and that starts right at the top. There's been great captains overs the years and Pat (Cummins) is also one of those and has the ability but they need to step up right now,"  he added.

In an attempt to turn things around against South Africa, Australia made a couple of changes to their lineup. Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis were introduced, replacing Alex Carey and Cameron Green. However, these alterations failed to yield the desired results as Australia suffered a significant defeat.

This loss marked Australia's fourth consecutive defeat in the ODIs against South Africa. As a result, they found themselves in a precarious position with two losses in two matches in the 2023 World Cup.