Langer and Hayden honoured

Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden were inducted into the prestigious Bradman Foundation at the gala dinner on Wednesday night at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The opening pair have enjoyed a long-time friendship on and off the field and joined an exclusive group of cricketers to be recognised by the foundation including Neil Harvey, Steve Waugh, Sachin Tendulkar and Richie Benaud.

Cricket’s night of nights was attended by a collection of cricketers and some of the game’s biggest personalities, including former Prime Minister John Howard and Australian captain Ricky Ponting.

Broadcaster and Trustee Alan Jones also took time to pay tribute to Kerry Packer, 40 years on from the debut of World Series Cricket under the lights of the SCG.

New Australian coach Langer was the centre of attention and gave fans an insight into his plan for Virat Kohli ahead of the upcoming Test series against India, which includes the annual New Year’s Test commencing on January 3 at the SCG.

“The great players I played with, whether it was Steve Waugh or Allan Border or Ponting or Hayden or McGrath or Shane Warne, Michael Clarke, all the great players, the ones they respected the most was the ones who made it hardest for them,” he said.

“That’s what we have to do.

“There’s a lot of talk about how we’ll play our cricket — there are a lot of different views on that — but if the Indians sit there and go, ‘wow, these guys have played really hard cricket against us’, and they leave our shores respecting the Australian cricket team, then I think that’s our best way to handle Kohli.’’

Bradman Foundation Honourees

2006: Norm O’Neill

2007: Neil Harvey and Same Loxton

2008: Bill Brown and Arthur Morris

2009: Alan Davidson and Dennis Lillee

2010: Sunil Gavaskar and Adam Gilchrist

2011: Sir Richard Hadlee and Bob Simpson

2012: Rahul Dravid and Glenn McGrath

2013: Mark Taylor

2014: Steve Waugh and Sachin Tendulkar

2015: Richie Benaud

2016: Bill Lawry and Graeme Smith

2017: Belinda Clark

2018: Justin Langer and Mathew Hayden