Rodney Hogg
Rodney Malcolm Hogg is an Australian former cricketer. He was a fast bowler. Hogg played in 38 Test matches and 71 One Day Internationals between 1978 and 1985. In Tests he took 123 wickets at an average of 28.47. He is best remembered for taking 41 wickets in his first six tests during the 1978–79 Ashes.
Early life and career
Hogg was born in Melbourne and grew up in the suburb of Thornbury. An only child, his father was a primary school teacher who encouraged Hogg's interest in cricket. Hogg had asthma as a child and battled it through his career.Hogg attended Northcote State School. He started out as a batsman, once representing Victoria's Under-14 side against Queensland, before switching to be an aggressive fast bowler. He made his grade cricket debut for Northcote in 1967–68, where his teammates included Gary Cosier. That summer he continued to bat in the middle order and his average was 71. In 1968–69 he played for a combined Melbourne High Schools team against Melbourne Public Schools opening the bowling. An Age article in December 1969 called him "a consistent wicket taker with the new ball."
By February 1970 Hogg was in the Victorian state squad. That month he was ordered to stop bowling in a game against North Melbourne after running on the pitch.
Hogg played for Victorian Colts in 1971–72 and 1972–73. In 1971–72 he took part in a 134 run partnership with Northcote captain Bill Lawry in a game against Richmond.
Hogg was never able to break into the Victorian side. There were a number of reasons for this including erratic form, a back injury, and being drafted into the army when he was twenty. In December 1972 Hogg asked to be dropped down to the Northcote Seconds due to poor form. "His attitude has had the club concerned," wrote The Age.
Hogg had to withdraw from the Victorian Colts team in December 1974 because he was unable to get leave from his job. In September 1974 he was named in the state squad and received more votes than any other Northcote player at the VCA Ryder medal but suffered from injury and was not picked in the state side.
South Australia
, who played with Hogg at Northcote, enjoyed a successful career in South Australia. In March 1975, Hogg announced he too would leave for Adelaide. "I just can't crack it here so I've decided to give it a bash in South Australia," said Hogg. "I think the change will improve my bowling. I was a bit immature early but I'll eat humble pie and start afresh in Adelaide." By that stage he had played around 70 games for Northcote over eight seasons.Hogg joined the Prospect District Cricket Club, although he later played for Woodville. He was eventually selected in the South Austrralian side and made his first-class debut that summer, taking seven wickets against Victoria. South Australia won the Sheffield Shield that season, although Hogg's contribution was relatively minimal.
Hogg missed the 1976–77 season due to an ankle injury and poor form. Loss of players to World Series Cricket in 1977–78 saw Hogg mentioned as a possible test prospect that summer despite his lack of experience. He was unable to force his way into the test side – Jeff Thomson, Wayne Clark, Sam Gannon, Ian Callen and Alan Hurst were the preferred fast bowlers. But he did take 36 first-class wickets at an average of 27 over the summer, including 10–124 for South Australia against Queensland.
World Series Cricket: International Cricketer
1978–79: Test Debut
At the beginning of the 1978–79 summer, a fast bowling spot opened up in the Australian side when Jeff Thomson told selectors he would no longer be available for international matches. Hogg took 4–43 for South Australia against the touring English team and leapt into test contention. Bill O'Reilly called him "an outstanding prospect... I like the aggressive manner in which he delves into his job and I admire his unusual control of length and direction."Hogg was duly picked in the first test. His first class statistics at that stage were 54 wickets at 20. Hogg's selection was almost immediately in jeopardy when, in a Shield game against NSW, he had to minimise the amount of bowling due to stomach cramps and an asthma attack. However he recovered to take 5–73.
Hogg had a magnificent first test, top scoring in Australia's first innings with 36, then taking 6–74 in England's first innings. However he could not prevent England from comfortably winning the match.
His figures were even better in the second test, taking 5–65 and 5–67. Australia's batting did not support him and England won again. Hogg won man of the match.
Australia's fortunes changed in the third test – the batsmen managed to score some runs, and Hoggs' return of 5–30 and 5–36 helped the team to a 103 run victory.
Australia's bowlers performed excellently in the fourth test, dismissing England for 152. When Australia scored 294 in response they had an excellent chance of winning the game. However England made 346 in response and Australia collapsed for 111. Hogg was then rested for a Shield game out of fear of injury. He returned to make his one-day international debut against England, taking 1–20 in an Australian defeat.
Hogg's incredible run continued in the fifth test, taking 4–26 and 3–59, meaning he overtook Arthur Mailey as the greatest wicket taker in an Ashes series. However Australia lost the match. During the game Hogg had a confrontation with captain Yallop and left the field for an hour. Hogg asked to be not selected for the next international match, a one-day game, due to health concerns, to enable him to recover for the final test. Australia lost the 6th test against England with Hogg taking 1–42. His 41 wickets in the series was a record for an Australian in an Ashes series, and is still equal fifth for any player in any series.
That summer Hogg was tempted to move to Queensland for financial reasons but accepted a job offer from Hindmarsh Building Society to stay in South Australia. He also turned down £10,000 to play county cricket for Lancashire saying "six days of cricket a week doesn't interest me."
Hogg continued his good form into the two-match series with Pakistan. In the first test he took 4–49 and 3–75 but Australia lost the game again. Hogg was the centre of some controversy while batting when run out off a no ball. He smashed down the stumps with his bat.
Some strong batting and bowling saw Australia win the second test; Hogg had a comparatively poor match taking 1–88 and 2–45. One writer called it his "worst performance" at international level to date. However, by the end of the summer Hogg was easily the leading first class wicket taker in Australia with 76 wickets at 16.43.
There was controversy in April when Graham Yallop released a book about the Ashes, Lambs to the Slaughter where he claimed Hogg ran "roughshod" over him during the English series. "There was no way I tried to run roughshod over him", said Hogg. "I simply didn't get any support at all for field placings in the early Tests and that is why we had continual disagreements". Yallop said he didn't actually write the book and wanted the Hogg chapter re-written. The book was released regardless.
1979 World Cup and India
Hogg toured England with Australia for the 1979 Cricket World Cup. While in the country he and Peter Toohey participated in a double wicket competition.He took 2–11 in a trial game against New Zealand and withdrew from the game against Pakistan with a bronchial infection. He took Geoff Boycott's wicket in the game against England but Australia still lost. Playing Canada, Hogg was hit for four fours in a row by Glenroy Sealy, and he was taken out of the attack with figures of 0–26 off two overs.
Hogg was expected to be one of Australia's main weapons against India on the 1979 tour. However he had a poor series.
He started badly, being ill with stomach cramps and was pelted with rocks and fruit during a match against South Zone.
He went for 2–85 in the first test, leaving the ground three times because of the heat and being no balled 21 times in his first 13 overs. He contributed some useful tail end batting helping Australia escape with a draw.
Hogg performed worse in the second test. He was no balled fourteen times and wound up arguing with the umpire and bowling a beamer. "Both Rodney Hogg and Hughes apologised to the umpire concerned and that is as far as the matter will go", said manager Bob Merriman. "However I will be talking to him... and I will seek an assurance that nothing of this nature will happen again". He finished with figures of 0–118 – the first time he had failed to take a wicket in an innings – with 21 no balls. According to one journalist:
What has happened? Can a man who sets records for wicket-taking in his first series be reduced to bowling to a wicketkeeper unaccompanied by slips, gullies or short legs? How can Hogg get no wicket for a hundred-odd in a Test? There is no single answer. But the major factor was the pitch. It got lower, slower and deader as the match progressed... There was a bit of bad luck... Hogg was not slacking. His teammates will confirm that he has worked harder on this tour than ever before. After the blow-up on the second day, Hogg realised what was at stake. He did his best to sort out his no-ball problem.
Hogg continued to cause controversy in his next game against Central Zone. According to press reports, "Rodney Hogg cannot walk on to a cricket field in India without causing a stir. In nine overs against Central Zone yesterday he bowled 18 no balls, hit one batsman on the head, sent another to hospital with three teeth knocked out and was warned for running on the wicket."
Captain Kim Hughes admitted for the first time that Hogg was struggling for his place in the team. "It's something new for him and it will be important for us to see how he handles it," said Hughes.
Hogg's form improved in the third test with figures of 4–66 and 1–49. In the fourth test he took 0–91, 2–103 and 0–26 in the fifth and 2–53 in the sixth. He took 20 wickets at 37.35 for a whole tour.
Reflecting on the series Kim Hughes said, "Rodney Hogg was disappointing. He took a long while to get to grips with the conditions."