Grace Hayden: I was sweating bullets over Joe Root innings and my dad will never do that again
Joe Root’s century in Australia wasn’t just a great moment for him, but also for the Hayden family.
This is because Australian legend Matthew promised he would walk around the Melbourne Cricket Ground [MCG] naked if Root didn’t score a century in this Ashes series.
After his performance in Perth, Hayden was pretty worried, but not as worried as his daughter or wife.
And in the immediate aftermath of the century, his daughter, Grace, took to Instagram to thank Root for scoring that elusive 100 and ensuring that no one had to see Matthew walk around one of the biggest stadiums in the world totally nude.
Grace is a sports broadcaster and cricket content creator with a large Instagram following, and her post went viral, leading to her appearing on talkSPORT Breakfast with Alan Brazil and Ray Parlour.
She was immediately asked how she was feeling as Root closed in on that tonne.
Grace said: “You don’t understand the stress that I was under. I am in Dubai at the moment working on the IL [International League] 20, so I wasn’t actually in Aus watching it live on screen, so I was on my app refreshing.
“I was getting so many messages from friends saying, ‘he’s on 98’, and I have never wanted an Englishman to do well in an Ashes ever before, but I was praying, and thankfully, he came through for us Haydens – we were sweating bullets.”
When asked if she actually believed that her dad would carry out, she said: “I think because there was so much hype around it, he was going to have to.
“Mum and I were talking before, and we’ve had words with him and said: ‘Dad, you are never to promise running around naked over anything ever again.'”
Apparently, though, threatening to walk around naked is something that Matthew is used to doing.
She added: “He has never officially on-air, so I think that is what has shot him in the foot.
“That has been dad’s saying ever since we were young. ‘Oh, I bet you this, and I’ll run naked around the MCG or The Gabba’. And now, it’s really got him because he’s said it on-air in an Ashes year.
“So, I am really glad that one hasn’t come to fruition.”
Specifically on Root’s moment, she said: “It was pretty cool for him to get his first 100, and it was actually nice that even an Aussie [her dad] was backing Root.
“He’s had a gun 2025, so he was set to score some runs, and I am actually quite happy for him that he got his first 100 in Aus.”
Relief
Root would have been relieved to finally get this monkey off his back and answer the final question mark hanging over him.
But it’s clear that the Hayden family were also pretty thankful.
In a message sent to Root, Matthew said: “G’day, Joe.
“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, mate congratulations. Ten fifties and finally a hundred, you little ripper, mate.”
Even his dad believes that the achievement actually meant more to others than it did to Root.
The Yorkshireman is yet to speak about finally ending his hoodoo, but he has the highest Test score for a visiting player in Australia in a pink-ball Test and guided England to 334.
That looked to be an imposing score.
However, Australia are quickly catching up, and they could actually have a first-innings lead, meaning it’s been a great couple of days for the Haydens.
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