Matthew Hayden says Australian selectors backed themselves into a corner in hunt for David Warner successor

Australian batting great Matthew Hayden has declared national selectors backed themselves into a corner in the hunt for David Warner’s opening replacement, saying he had sympathy for overlooked duo Cam Bancroft and Marcus Harris. Hayden was a vocal critic of Steve Smith’s move to the top of the order in February as the Aussies gave arguably their best batter the first crack at succeeding Warner. Having described that move as “crazy” earlier this year, Hayden doubled down on his evaluation this week, saying that he hoped Nathan McSweeney succeeded but bemoaning the lack of opportunity for a specialist opener. “This is exactly my point and why I disagreed with Steve Smith opening the batting,” Hayden told The Age. “It wasn’t a slight on Steve Smith’s career, it was more of a plea and call to action around the (domestic) system itself. “Now the Australian selectors have done exactly what I thought was going to happen and that was back themselves into a corner, knowing that you had T20s and one-dayers right through the early part of 2024 and zero Test match cricket. “There has been very little first-class cricket and two Australia A games where they chopped and changed the opening batters. There wasn’t one (sizeable) opening partnership. “Can you imagine how Marcus Harris is feeling right now? He’s carried the drinks forever and been the incumbent opening batsman, and Bancroft is the same. “We just didn’t allow ourselves the luxury of enough time to select on the basis of weight of runs. It’s something which, if you want to quote (my situation), banging down the door was almost an understatement. They were record-breaking years.” Hayden said it was “fantastic” that McSweeney would have a chance to shine and wished him the best, but urged patience for Aussie cricket supporters amid the challenge of replacing Warner. “It’s crazy to think that it’s just going to be sunshine. I can assure you one thing, it’s mostly hailing in Test cricket, and in particular at the top,” he said. “I just think that the Australian public should understand that this is going to be a really challenging summer of cricket.” Hayden’s comments came as Bancroft’s nightmare start to the season continued, with yet another failure in WA’s Sheffield Shield clash against Victoria at Melbourne’s Junction Oval. Bancroft was bowled by Fergus O’Neill for 11, continuing a season where he has averaged just 5.2 - and failed to pass 16 - in his past 10 hits. Harris was dismissed early on day two for 47, adding just seven to his overnight tally.