Did the IPL break 'ironman' Hayden?
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
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Jon Pierik writes in the Herald Sun about Matthew Hayden’s withdrawal from the West Indies tour due to an injury sustained during the Indian Premier League.
While Cricket Australia opted not to attack the Indian Premier League yesterday, its silence is a bit like ignoring the elephant in the room. Australia's decision to send Hayden home from the West Indies has raised eyebrows in the game. Not because there's any doubt about the legitimacy of the injury. Hayden is - or was - a cricketing ironman, and has played at times more on will than fitness.
What is concerning is that this serious achilles tendon - a longtime issue - flared while playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. A Twenty20 tournament that may have transformed player payments, and be all the rage in India, but one that very few people are talking about in Australia.
In the Sydney Morning Herald Alex Brown talks to Andrew Symonds about his West Indian roots while Ricky Ponting also looks at Symonds in his column in the Australian.
Peter English is former Australasia editor of ESPNcricinfo