Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden recently fractured his spine near the base of his neck while surfing with his son on North Stradbroke Island.

Not only spine fracture, but he also tore several ligaments and hurt his forehead after being dumped into a sandbank.

"Fractured C6, torn C5, C4 ligaments safe to say I truly have dodged a bullet. Thank you, everyone. On the road to recovery," Hayden wrote in an Instagram post.

Matthew Hayden’s post shattered almost everyone in the cricketing fraternity but former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes seems to have found the funny side in this incident. Rhodes replied to Hayden's post on Instagram and compared his injury to the map of Tamil Nadu.

“@haydos359 is that a map of The Tamil Nadu coast u are wearing on your forehead? Real commitment buddy!!! Some of us softies take the easy option and just get tattoos!!” Rhodes commented.

Hayden, who retired from international cricket in 2009 after a 103-Test career, told Brisbane's Courier Mail that he was "bloody lucky" to escape serious injury.

"It was an hour into the session and we had had half dozen waves together and I got this one right-handed wave which I sort of ducked under and that is pretty much all I can remember," Hayden asserted.

"I wasn't knocked out. I was speared into the top of the sandbank onto the top of my head. Then it twisted my head with my own weight and the weight of the wave. I heard this god almighty click in my neck. I did not get knocked out but I sort of came to and rolled up on my back," he further added.