Soliloquy

Bradley James Haddin called time on his Test career today at the Sydney Cricket Ground in a packed press conference chaired by Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland. What an unfitting way to end a very public career and a very private journey. None of his teammates were there to hoist him on their shoulders and thank him for all that he’d done because they were in England playing out a One-Day series succeeding their Ashes loss. His best mate in the Aussie dressing room, Captain Michael Clarke had called it quits after the fifth Test at The Oval along with Chris Rogers and Shane Watson, all important cogs of the Australian batting wheel.

Haddin didn’t get all the adulation he so richly deserved and that had something to do with his early departure from the Ashes tour citing personal reasons. Sophia Gardens in Cardiff played host to his last Test. Here was a wicketkeeper so unabashed to tough it out in the middle and give out a spray to opponents, if needed. At a time when his team had forgotten how to win, Haddin gave the team a much needed grit and Australianism. He played cricket hard, but fair. Haddin knew, perhaps instinctively, where the boundaries were.

Having played understudy to Adam Gilchrist for an eternity, he knew how important his place in the side was and how he had to play his part in gelling everybody up. That included giving advice and leadership tips when Clarke needed it most. Haddin was the most technically correct wicketkeeper, after Ian Healy and his acrobatic dives will be remembered for long. His keeping was simple but elegant. He gave a stylish element to wicket keeping at a time when most international teams were willing to experiment with batsmen who could keep. Most importantly, Brad Haddin was a wicketkeeper batsman, not a batsman wicketkeeper. He reminded many of Ian Healy and the bygone glory days of wicketkeeping. The only challenge was to keep up to the stumps to spinners, and he did that perfectly too.

Brad Haddin the batsman came alive when his team was in trouble. He seemed to thrive in situations which needed him to bail his team out by digging in. He responded by counterattacking almost perfectly and seemed to catch the opposition unawares. Most of his Test hundreds came against England, which showed how much he loved the big occasion and nailed the traditional rivals. Haddin played a very big part in Australia’s 5-0 whitewash in the Ashes 2013-14, topping the batting charts with a hundred and eight fifties. He didn’t get the man-of-the-series award, losing out in public vote to Mitchell Johnson but he wasn’t cribbing. Australia’s victory was what mattered the most to him. More than anything else, he had imbibed in himself the ‘Team First’ philosophy set down by Ricky Ponting.

Brad Haddin shall always be remembered as the wicketkeeper who could fly to second slip or glance down the leg side for one-handed grabs, but more than anything else, he will be remembered for giving grit a good name. Well ‘kept, Hadds!