Hayden a colossus on and off the field

Will Swanton interviewed Matthew Hayden for the Sun-Herald.

Matthew Hayden: He was great. He was like, 'I suppose I'm not changing your mind?' I said, 'What do you reckon? No.' He said he was really surprised. I was nervous about telling him because I knew the magnitude of my conversation with him. One of the things I've genuinely loved doing is playing with Ricky over the years. Just playing for his captaincy and his legacy. If he asked me to do something I would do it, without doubting it for one second. I have so much respect for him that I apologised for leaving him. I asked him for one thing. I said, 'I'd love to have you at the press conference.' He said, 'Done. Of course I'm there.' But he went a step further and got the entire team there. That was one of the greatest highlights of my cricketing life to have the whole team there when I announced my retirement. And it was Ricky's doing. That's what I played the game for - respect.

John Stern profiles the batsman in the Times.