Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden is now part of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL), where he has joined Glasgow Cosmic as co-owner and head coach.
Hayden’s last coaching assignment was as batting coach of Gujarat Titans in the recently-concluded IPL.
“Cricket has given me a lifetime of opportunities – as a player, teammate, mentor, broadcaster and coach – and the chance to help build a new franchise from the ground up is a challenge that excites me enormously,” Hayden said in a statement.
“What attracted me most to the Glasgow Cosmic project was not simply the cricket opportunity, but the vision behind it. Great teams are built on strong values, clear purpose and people who are prepared to think boldly,” he added.
Since his retirement in 2012, Hayden has split his time between coaching and commentary work. He also held mentoring roles as part of Pakistan’s coaching staff from 2021 until after the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Hayden, one of Australia’s greatest batters, played 103 Tests, 161 ODIs and nine T20Is between 1993 and 2009. During his international career, he scored 15,066 runs across all formats.
Hayden’s assistant at Glasgow Cosmic will be fellow Queenslander Matthew Mott, who served as England’s white-ball coach from 2022 to 2024.
Several well-known international players have also signed up for Cosmic, including New Zealand opener Finn Allen, South African fast bowler Lungi Ngidi and former England all-rounder Liam Livingstone.
The ETPL is being organised in partnership with the cricket boards of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. The league’s six teams are based in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Glasgow Cosmic is backed by the India-based Mugafi Group. Other ETPL franchises have attracted investments from cricket legends such as Steve Waugh and Rahul Dravid.
Bollywood actor and producer Abhishek Bachchan is also among the league’s owners, alongside Indian sports technology company Rules Sport Tech.
The inaugural ETPL season will be held across two venues — The Hague in the Netherlands and Dublin in Ireland.
