England's star batsman Joe Root has not only thrilled his team's supporters with a superb century at the Gabba but has also spared Australian cricket great Matthew Hayden from a deeply embarrassing public spectacle.
A Wild Promise Comes Back to Haunt Hayden
The drama began when Channel Seven commentator and former Test opener Matthew Hayden made a bold and now infamous promise. He declared he would walk naked around the Melbourne Cricket Ground if Root failed to score a century during the entire Ashes series this summer.
After the Perth Test, the bet looked precarious for the Australian legend. Root was dismissed for a duck in the first innings and managed only eight runs in the second, leaving Hayden and his family counting down the innings with increasing anxiety.
Relief for the Hayden Family as Root Delivers
The tension was finally broken on Thursday when the 34-year-old Englishman registered his 40th Test century at the Brisbane ground. The milestone prompted an enormous sigh of relief from the Hayden household.
Matthew Hayden quickly recorded a congratulatory video message, which was shared by the England Cricket social media team. "G'day, Joe. Congratulations, mate, on the hundred here in Australia," Hayden said. "Took you a while, and there was no one that had more skin in the game than me, literally. I was backing you in for a hundred in a good way. So mate, congratulations. 10 50s and finally a hundred, you little ripper, mate. Have a beauty and bloody enjoy it."
Hayden later admitted, "There are two people who will be more relieved than anyone else: that's my wife and my daughter. I was counting down the innings, and I was a bit nervous."
Social Media Erupts as Grace Hayden Leads the Celebrations
The moment Root reached triple figures, the good-natured ribbing of Matthew Hayden began in earnest. His daughter, sports presenter and influencer Grace Hayden, who boasts over 570,000 Instagram followers, was among the first to celebrate her father's narrow escape.
In an Instagram story, Grace posted a short video of herself saying "thank God" while crossing herself. The text overlay on the video read: "Root, thank you. You've saved all our eyes."
She also shared an image from the 'loveofcricket' podcast which declared "Nation saved," adding, "Thanks Joe Root ... we're sure Grace Hayden agrees." The online fun continued with parody accounts and fans joining in. The 'Lie Lamaa' account posted, "Joe Root is a saviour," while one fan noted, "Entire Cricket World thanking Root." However, not everyone was pleased, with one supporter quipping, "Secretly….. bugger."
The incident has provided one of the more memorable and light-hearted subplots of the Ashes series so far, proving that cricket's great rivalry can still produce moments of shared humour and relief, even between opposing camps.
