Matthew Hayden admitted he was relieved to put a summer of disappointments behind him by hitting his first Test century of the Ashes series. The Australian opener finished the third day of the fifth Test against England unbeaten on 110 not out.
And he told BBC Sport: "It's been frustrating for me. But in the face of what's happened this summer I've been patient and my rewards have come.
"I think I played nice and straight and was difficult to get out."
Hayden twice came close to being dismissed as the ball only narrowly avoided the clutches of Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood.
But his partnerships with Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn helped Australia finish the day on 277-2.
He described his own innings as "the way I should have played all summer".
But he added: "There is no point looking back and we enormously important day on Sunday.
"There's full credit to England, who have played really well throughout and remained patient. They've come at us pretty hard and got the rewards."
Hayden added that the Australian batsmen would continue to press home their advantage on the fourth morning.
"I think our plan now is to take the game as deep as we can," he said.
"The more we go the more tired the England bowlers will get. I don't think we necessarily need to worry about run rate."
MMIX
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