Matthew Hayden has tried damage control after his comments on India’s Third World status predictably opened up a controversy. He has told the Sydney Morning Herald he’s a “great admirer of the country” and the people he admires most are the “large portion of India that is third world, that is below the poverty line”.

Hayden’s original comments, after Australia’s return from their India tour last week, were in response to criticism of the team’s slow over rates in the fourth Test. Hayden told reporters that some of the blame rested with opposition batsmen and officials. “Often we find ourselves with hands on hips waiting for someone to either face up or someone in the sightboard to move away; all the little frustrations that happen in Third World countries…”

He has now qualified his thoughts. “The politics of cricket, I think, has gone mad," he said. “One of the things I love the most about India, is that you walk around
the back of the hotel, and there's a man who's selling peanuts on the
street for one cent a month, and he holds his head so high, and is so
proud, as if he was making $2 million a month. It frustrates me that
certain sections of humanity want to take someone like myself down, who is
a really great admirer of the country, and who has really built his career
on the back of the country in a very proud and honoured way.

”I stand by what I said. There is a large portion of India that is third world that is below the poverty line. But from my experience, it is those people who I admire the most. They are the ones who send out the messages of love and passion and have that amazing enthusiasm for life. I greatly admire, and appreciate, all the wonderful sentiments they have conveyed to me over the years, and for anyone to
suggest otherwise is way off the mark."