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| Matthew Hayden with wife Kellie and children (from left) Thomas, Grace and Joshua |
Australian run-machine Matthew Hayden plays the role of a passionate farmer in TLC’s new series Matthew Hayden’s Home Ground. In this intimate six-part series, Hayden, after hanging up his baggy green cap, is on a quest to achieve a more self-sufficient lifestyle for his family as he discovers what is best to grow in order to live healthy. The cricketer also puts another skill of his to good use — creating a range of delicious dishes. Home Ground premieres on Monday, August 15, at 10.30pm. Hayden fields questions from t2 over the phone from Brisbane.
Hello from Calcutta. What is your most enduring memory of Eden Gardens?
That has to be the awe-inspiring partnership of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman to defeat Australia when we most certainly were expecting to win the Test match. I also had my first and last nine overs in Test match cricket there. Yes, I bowled. What was I thinking (laughs)… more to the point, what was Steven Waugh thinking!
Where is your home ground?
I am from Brisbane in Queensland. I have five acres there.
Did you start farming after quitting international cricket?
Ever since I can remember, I have always loved to grow things — in cricket, partnerships in batting, with franchises like Chennai Super Kings; in relationships, being a father of three children and a husband married for 15 years. All these things take effort and energy to nurture. They have always been a huge part of the satisfaction I have enjoyed in my life. The series Home Ground is really about what I see in India in every backyard when I am there, growing small plots of spices like chilli, for example, or coconuts in south India. Or, when you go in and around the wheat belts like Mohali, you see how those areas have been turned into hand-reaped granules of wheat which get turned into roti or naan or one of those exquisite breads which I think India does better than anyone.
Did you find time in between sporting assignments to explore the farming culture of a region?
I always took the time to take snapshots. With our restrictive schedules and security concerns and because of the heightened profile cricket has in India, it was not always easy. But I always took in what I saw. India has such a beautiful family culture and food is celebrated through religious festivals and gatherings. When I grew up as a country child living in regional Australia...
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That would be in Kingaroy, right?
Yes, in Kingaroy. We raised our own beef, we had our own dairy cows making our own butter. We grew wheat, peanuts, navy beans, corn, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, mangoes…. That’s what we lived off. I learnt from my grandmother and her amazing talent as a home cook to convert all those into healthy sustainable meals. I look back on those times and I would replace any Test century with the opportunity to spend time with my grandma and live life on land and convert that land into something useful.
As a farmer, when did you grow your first produce and what was it?
I think I would have been about six when I had my own veggie plot. I grew cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, snow peas, peas, eggplant or aubergine, zucchini, pumpkin.... It was an extensive plot. I did with it what I wanted to. In Kingaroy, we had red soil, really deep rich basalt soil. So pretty much the moment we added water to it, it grew anything.
At six, were you doing the reaping and harvesting yourself?
At six, I reckon I would have been with my father. We’d be cultivating together and I’d be learning how to plant. Between eight and 10, I was propagating my own seeds and planting out from them. At 10 to 15, I was managing the plot. That means I was studying the season, when things grew, when they didn’t, collecting the seeds of tomatoes and such things, learning how to store them and propagate and plant them. At 15, I left home to go to boarding school down in Brisbane where I was growing a cricket career.
Had Matthew Hayden not taken to cricket, would he have been a full-time farmer?
I think it would be fair to say, yeah.
What about your children?
Grace is nine, Joshua is six and Thomas is four. It is the four-year-old who is getting the value-add of home ground. He is eating everything; at the moment we are growing fresh peas and he is down there chewing down the peas. He is right into it. He is the eternal potterer. All of them feature on the show.
Are you looking forward to a day when you will play cricket and farm with your boys in the backyard?
I look forward to every day in my life. It’s been a fantastic journey as an elite sportsman, as a husband with three beautiful children. I am opening doors to business opportunities through my passion which is recreation, leisure and lifestyle. That’s what my company is all about. I have been extremely fortunate in my exposure to different cultures and people.
What is your company called and what does it deal in?
My company is called The Hayden Way. It develops great content, runs a number of lifestyle brands including my own, a fishing brand called 2Dans, a travel brand called the Travel Bug and this is breaking news — it is also an owner in the newly established Big Bash League (a T20 championship in Australia) here in the Brisbane Heat where I am part owner and director. I also plan to play for my team. So my company celebrates sport, it celebrates a healthy and active life, it celebrates getting outside, whether that’s in the garden, in the water, in the outdoors, adventure life — every aspect of it.
Have any of your cricketer friends visited your garden?
Yes, many of them. I was talking to Suresh Raina as well. He is keen to come over with M.S. Dhoni. I will cook them a beautiful Indian meal straight off my back garden. I grow galangal, ginger and curry leaf. I can make a really great curry. I had Parthiv Patel over when he was here for a young Indian tour. I was making a chicken curry. It can be a bit nerve-wracking to make a curry for an Indian because that’s what you guys eat. It was amazing that he loved it. I inspired him to cook.
You love vegetarian food in India. Which cuisines are you exploring on the show?
Pretty much all regions. I cook up a dal tadka on the show and a chicken curry. I believe I also do a really simple chaat — diced vegetable pieces with chutney. I love tomato, cucumber and chaat masala. Uff… I love that!
Favourite ground in Australia
The MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground)
Fave ground outside
Home of the Chennai Super Kings (M.A. Chidambaram stadium)
Fave Aussie cricketer
Allan Border
Fave cricketer abroad
Rahul Dravid
Nickname
Unit. From a big unit.
