Upset at Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar getting the Order of Australia (AM), former batsman Matthew Hayden said the honour should be "exclusive" to his countrymen, says a report in The Indian Express.
In an Australian radio show, Hayden said Tendulkar didn't deserve the honour. "I think it should be exclusive to Australians... There are things that are sacred amongst our country. I understand the point that he is an iconic figure. If Sachin was living in Australia – give him the Prime Minister's gong I reckon – but the reality of it is he's living in India," he said.
"I kind of understand the point of the fact that he has been such an iconic figure here in Australia and there's an enormous population of Indians that are working here and living here very happily and in harmony with Australia that have naturalised and I think that's a great part of our country, how multi-cultural that we are," he explained.
Tendulkar is only the second Indian after former attorney general Soli Sorabjee to get the honour.
Meanwhile a report in The Times Of India says that Matthew Hayden has called James Anderson a "B-Grade bowler who got his a**e-whipped by Australia that many times it's not even funny" after the England pacer said he attacked an "arrogant" Michael Clarke with a batsman's pad in the dressing room after an Ashes Test during the 2006/07 series.
The autobiography "Jimmy: My Story" revealed that Anderson took to the then Australian No.6 batsman, now Australia's Test captain, in the home dressing room at the Adelaide Oval following Australia's six-wicket win.
Writing in his autobiography, Anderson revealed that Australian batsman Damien Martyn had urged him to attack Clarke when both sets of players had enjoyed a drink together following the Adelaide Test.
Anderson also wrote how Martyn then went on to clash with Hayden later that evening, before surprisingly announcing his retirement two days later.
"This has been a big incident, hasn't it. In reality, James Anderson was a B-grade bowler who got his a**e-whipped by Australia that many times it's not even funny," Hayden told Triple M Sydney's The Rush Hour.