Amid a crisis in Australian batting, Hayden declared the Aussies were dropping to “British standards” in considering selecting batsmen with Sheffield Shield averages of as low as 30.
Hayden, who became renowned for his imposing opening style over a 103-Test career, appealed to the selectors not to make sweeping changes to the struggling Test side by dropping veterans Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey.
And with the start of the First Test against power nation India less than two weeks away, Hayden said the nation’s young players were simply not ready for international Test cricket.
“There’s not someone you can go to in Shield cricket - even someone like Ed Cowan for example, he’s averaging a little over 30,” Hayden told SEN.
“I mean, for goodness’ sake. That’s more the British standards.
“The Australian standards are - that we average, as a batting unit to make the Test side, 50.
“And if you’re not cutting the mustard and averaging 50, there’s enormous pressure on your position, you know it as an athlete and that’s the way it should be.”
Opener Phil Hughes is likely to be dropped from the Test team after a disastrous run of form, as Australia attempts to recover from Monday’s horror Second Test loss to New Zealand.
Since making 126 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in September, Hughes, just 22, has averaged just 21 runs per innings, while in his last two Tests against New Zealand his average was just over 10.
On Wednesday, Cricket Australia announced the struggling Hughes would not be available for the glitzy Big Bash League, with his focus to be solely on the long form of the game.
Hayden said the selectors have no choice but to drop Hughes, declaring the youngster has a lot of improvement ahead of him.
“The reality of it is - you can’t get bitter about things, you’ve just got to step up and get better,” Hayden said.
“These are young guys we’re talking about.
“It’s not like dropping a Ricky Ponting or a Michael Hussey - you drop them and their careers are over.
“I don’t think Australia can afford to do that right now.
“I think it’s got to consolidate around those guys for the period in time which we need to bring up our youngsters, because they’re not ready to play.”