Hayden got lucky, feels Taylor

Contrary to many Aussie greats, former captain Mark Taylor feels opener Matthew Hayden was lucky to get away with just a reprimand for his "obnoxious little weed" remark about Harbhajan Singh.

"I really hope he (Hayden) can put this behind him, because I think the other night, to be totally honest, he got away lightly," Taylor said of Hayden's code of conduct hearing on Wednesday.

"Matthew Hayden broke his own rules, he broke the spirit of cricket which the Australian players live by and love. He broke those laws, at the end of the day he got a rap over the knuckles, I think he should accept it and get on and play some cricket."

Hayden could have been banned or fined up to $5750 after being charged with making a detrimental public comment following his Brisbane radio interview.

Taylor claimed Hayden and Andrew Symonds had been distracted throughout the tri-series by their ongoing spat with the Indian off-spinner.

A television commentator, Taylor is a Cricket Australia board member and has been tipped as a future chairman.

Several sporting luminaries, including legendary speedster Jeff Thomson, Shane Warne and Barry Richards as well as the Australian Cricketers' Association have opined that CA had over-reacted.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia denied that chief executive James Sutherland charged Hayden with detrimental public comment to appease BCCI.

"The fact that it (Hayden's comment) was made about an Indian player was not relevant," CA spokesman Peter Young said.