Cricket commentator Grace Hayden has been taking the broadcasting world by storm and has just embarked on her latest venture.
She is the daughter of legendary Australian cricket superstar, Matthew Hayden, and has spent the last year working for Star Sports on their coverage of the Indian Premier League, Channel 7’s horse racing and the GT20 in Canada.
The 23-year-old has now made her podcasting debut, launching her own series on Willow TV, entitled Game On with Grace Hayden, and welcomed a very special guest for the first episode.
She was joined by her dad’s old team-mate and fellow Aussie cricket legend Adam Gilchrist, with the pair going on to recount some of the wicketkeeper’s greatest and funniest stories from his time playing with the Test side between 1999 and 2008.
And it is no surprise that Hayden’s dad, Matthew, featured in one of Gilly’s funniest stories, a yarn that Grace later admitted her mother hates.
The Aussie Test side had just won a match in Cape Town in South Africa. They had gone into the dressing room to perform the customary team song. But things escalated as Gilchrist admitted that the team decided to ‘take things off-piste’.
Grace Hayden and Adam Gilchrist (left and right) have revealed a hilarious annecdote about her legendary father Matthew Hayden
Hayden has been taking the broadcasting world by storm and has just embarked on her latest venture
‘We ended up going off to the cable car in Cape Town, up to Table Mountain,’ Gilchrist explained to the Game On with Grace Hayden podcast.
‘Some [players] were in the cable car, others were on the roof of the cable car, which OH&S wouldn’t have a great time with.
Asked who got on top of the car, Gilly revealed: ‘Well, one M. Hayden was on top of there and not only that, but he decided to drop a nude bomb.
‘So he’s basically stark naked with an Aussie flag draping around his neck.
‘So, think Leonardo DiCaprio at the front of the Titanic… That was his “king of the world” type moment.’
Speaking to Perth Now, Grace revealed another funny aspect of the story.
‘Mum absolutely despises that,’ she told the outlet. ‘She was pregnant with the youngest back at home. But honestly, what goes on on tour, I think, should stay behind closed doors.
‘Thank goodness there were no cell phones and video footage of that one,’ she joked.
She is hosting a brand new podcast, called Game On with Grace Hayden, and in the first episode she and Gilchrist revealed how her dad (left) once got naked on top of a cable car
During the episode, Grace (pictured right with her dad) and Gilchrist opened up on what it was like spending time on tour with the Australian Test side between 1999 and 2008
Grace spoke affectionately of her father, one of the Australian cricket team’s great larrikins.
While many remember his sensational and ruthless ability to slog cricket balls with the bat, Grace admits her dad has a softer side.
‘Obviously, he didn’t have that reputation back on the cricket pitch, but anyone who knows him now, he’s just a big, soft teddy bear,’ she explained to Perth Now.
The emerging Aussie presenter explained to the outlet that her new podcast hopes to take a deep dive behind the scenes at the lives of much loved and revered Australian athletes.
‘Obviously, we see the records, we see them at their highest. But getting to know them off the field or off the court, and just having a chat and a space to have heart-to-heart conversations and have a laugh, tell some untold stories,’ she added.
The glamorous TV presenter also has an eye for fashion, but admitted that she and her dad don’t quite agree when it comes to his outfit choices.
Matthew is known for sporting his now iconic cowboy hat when he makes an appearance on TV.
And that is the one thing Grace says they can agree on.
Grace admitted that she and her dad (left) didn’t always see eye-to-eye when it came to fashion but she said she loved his cowboy hats
Hayden landed one of the biggest breaks of her budding TV career this year, working as a presenter for Star Sports’ coverage of the Indian Premier League
‘Fashion isn’t the thing that we see eye to eye on,’ she said.
‘I actually like the big hat on Dad. I think it suits him.’
During the podcast, Gilchrist also praised that group of players, not only for talent, but for the bond they all shared during those long tours.
‘That was a team that knew they had something unique by way of skill level and achievement. But maintained a sense of humour throughout,’ he added.
He also revealed a touching story about how he arrived later than the rest of the squad at the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the Carribbean. He had flown out after having become a dad but admitted he was ‘pretty flat’ having to leave his partner and the baby behind.
‘I was starting to question [whether] I should be there. The first night I found a quiet little beach bar, I had a beer, and as you do, you celebrate your little stogie. But I took a companion with me and that happened to be your old man,’ he told Grace.
‘Of course,’ she replied.
‘We’ve all celebrated all our children pretty well,’ Gilchrist added. ‘But moments like that, just sitting and talking.
She has recently been spending time in Italy on vacation with her boyfriend Wilson Statham (right) and several other friends
‘I ended up in tears about how emotional I was. Just leaning on those around you.
‘The next night I went and did the same. He came again. And then the next night, until the point where John Buchanan said: “Righto, Gilly come here. Are you ready to get into this World Cup now?” And I think I asked him for one more night.’
He revealed they got their extra night out, but he added he ‘wasn’t the one lone ranger. I think everyone came along and we had a nice blowout’.
Australia would go on to win the World Cup undefeated.
