Rodney Hogg you may remember was an Australian fast bowler who was clearly a little insane. And now he has a book out.
The word around the water cooler is that it’s not a standard sporting book about how great the sportsmen was and how the media, selectors and general world never gave him the adulation he deserved.
This is a book where he says he was a d1ck and that others were d1cks as well.
I may even read it.
No probably not.
However it does remind me of a Rodney Hogg story I know.
Everything after here should have the tag line allegedly before it, cause I wasn’t there.
A group of cricketers were having a chat at a function and Hogg came over. Included were a Victorian cricketer and my old coach.
Apparently the conversation broke down like this, Hogg was very interested in the Victorian teams bowling tactics. Especially when it came to the best Australian batsmen at that time.
So he asked about Steve Waugh.
The Victorian opening bowler said that with Steve he tended to not use his feet too much early on, so if you threw up enough full balls, some wide, some straight you were a chance to get him LB or get a kick.
Hogg agreed, but then said, yeah but he doesn’t like the short ones, I think you should bounce him early, get a few men around the bat and see how you go.
Then he asked about Mark Waugh. The Vic quick said, you bowl a good foot, foot and a half wide of off stump, keep them full, don’t let him get his eye in on the on side shots. Keep him not scoring for as long possible.
Hogg agreed, but then said, I think you should give him some chin music, right in there at his throat, get a lug gully in and you’ll get him eventually.
Then he asked about Ricky Ponting.
The quick said, with Ponting you need to stay off his pads early, don’t keep the ball to full, or too short, get him reaching for the ball, keep it outside off so he has to find it, and hope he fishes for it.
Hogg, agreed again, but of course then he said, yeah but he likes to hook, kid can’t help it, you should bounce him, put em all back on the fence and just keep bouncing him till he hits one up in the air.
Apparently he asked about 3 or so more batsmen, and always brought it back to bowling short at them.
That is a fast bowler.
Or an angry Northern Suburbs boy.
In conclusion- fast bowlers like it straight?
im not sure there could be gay fast bolwers… andy caddick perhaps.
I don’t see why a spin bowler shouldn’t bowl to those tactics. And, being a Somerset man myself, Andy Caddick could do things with those ears that would make Michael Jackson weep.
I like Hoggy – keeps the gameplan simple. A quite under-rated bowler actually, I had a lot of time for him.He also knew his place in the world. After the 1984 retirements of Lillee, Chappell and Marsh, the remaining test players were discussing how they would retire. Hogg pointed out that almost all of them wouldn’t retire, as mere mortals they would be dropped first. Very accurate prediction.
Ahteist, which spinner bowls bouncers, the victorian shane warne, maybe hoggy got in his ear. Stuart, I love him too, there are some great other stories ive heard over the years, but they are more based on heresay and not on on first hand knowledge. He is a legend down here in victoria, some of the things he got upto with northcote are hilarious.
Hoggy was evidently one of the first guys to really push Shane Warne. Hogg faced him in a grade game very early on in Warne’s career, and Hogg immediately told Jimmy Higgs that Warne was far better even at that age than Higgs ever was.
I believe the quote Hogg made was, something along the lines of, this kids better than Sleepy and he’s in the national side.
One of the reasons I became Rodney Hogg’s biggest fan in the whole wide world was his debut series. While Brearley’s lot were busy beating up Yallop’s lot 5-1, Hogg kept taking boatloads of wickets. It was a pity he didn’t get his no-ball problem sorted out when Hughes came over with the Aussies a year later to India. I still remember him kicking down the stumps in Kanpur, frustrated and angry at the number of no-balls being called. Had he gotten his act together, the team might have won a match (or two).
But Samir, i think with Hogg its the fact he didn’t sort stuff out is why we love him. He remained unperfect in every way.