CRICKET WORLD

Matthew Hayden is convinced the new 'Mongoose' bat has an "enormous" future in all forms of cricket.

Australia Test and one-day international great Hayden has been using the new bat, to significant effect, for the Chennai Super Kings in this year's Indian Premier League.

But he believes the innovative blade, designed to aid power hitting, is by no means a mere curiosity with Twenty20 limitations.

"I think the future of it is enormous, and the potential enormous," said Hayden, who showed what the Mongoose can do when he hit five fours and seven sixes from only 34 balls for the Super Kings at the start of IPL 2010.

"I see it as an outright attacking weapon - that's how it needs to be used - in circumstances where you are not looking to defend at all, just out-and-out attack."

Hayden, who made more than 6,000 runs in his 161 ODIs for Australia, would love to have had the Mongoose at his disposal during his international career.

He can envisage situations, even in Test as well as ODI cricket, where the Mongoose - his version has a 43% longer handle and 33% shorter blade, compared to a conventional bat - may be a huge asset to an attack-minded player.

The premise is that the long, flexible handle and shorter blade maximise bat speed and power.

Hayden added: "You could even seize the opportunity, for example just before lunch in a Test match, thinking 'the opposition are looking vulnerable, and I am going to go all-out attack'.

"There are possibilities in one-day international scenarios and Test matches."