12 Facts about Rodney Hogg: The lunatic fast bowler

Rodney Hogg’s rise to international cricket is an interesting story. Hogg’s induction to the Australian national side came during the much dreaded ‘Civil War’ in Australian cricket. A fiery fast bowler, Hogg took a keen interest into bowling to Geoff Boycott with the latter beaten for pace each time he faced Hogg. While his anger management issues on the field took centre stage, Hogg is, and always has been a true gentleman of the game. On his 65^th birthday, here are a few facts about Rodney Hogg, a genuine lunatic fast bowler.

1. The Melbourne Mauler

Rodney Malcolm Hogg was born on the 5^th of March 1951 at Melbourne, Australia.

2. The Jeff Thomson tradition

Similar to his idol Jeff ‘Thommo’ Thomson, Rodney Hogg had a reputation of bowling quick and striking fear into the batsmen. Although he could never come close to matching the pace of either Thommo or Dennis Lillee, Hogg’s physical stature allowed him to hit the deck hard and extract bounce even on slow wickets.

3. The kids of Australia

Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket saw a majority of the Australian side alter their loyalty to make the switch to the cash-induced league. The ACB issued a statement a few days later, stating that the Aussie ‘rebels’ would be banned from playing for Australia in the future. The ACB decided it was time to call up the kids. Kim Hughes aged 24 and 22-year-old Allan Border were appointed captain and vice-captain respectively. Hogg, along with Border and Hughes were the only three that remained in the side following the return of the World Series stars.

4. 1984-85 tour of India

Rodney Hogg toured India in 1984-85 under the captaincy of Kim Hughes. The series was to commemorate the golden jubilee of the Ranji Trophy. An impressive tour with the ball saw Hogg named vice-captain the following year. However, the resignation of Kim Hughes as captain saw Hogg lay his head on the chopping block to lose his job.

5. The ‘soft’ videotape

A fiery character, Hogg once asked his wife to erase the videotape of his soft dismissal while batting in a Test. The reason was that he did not want his son to see him as a coward.

6. The Bangalore tantrum

If there was one weakness Rodney Hogg had, it was infuriation towards the little incidents. An infamous tantrum occurred in Bangalore during the 1985 tour. After being adjudged no-ball on 11 occasions, Hogg lost his temper. He bowled a beamer, kicked down the stumps and stormed off the field of play. Apologies were tendered from Hogg as well as then skipper Kim Hughes.

7. The ‘Boycott Bunny’

While batsmen treasure their runs, the bowlers treasure their bunnies. Rodney Hogg too had a bunny. However, it wasn’t any ordinary bunny, it was legendary England batsman Geoffrey Boycott. Hogg’s fiery pace proved too much to handle as he dismissed him time and again.

8. Rebel tours to South Africa

Rodney Hogg’s expulsion as vice-captain from the team saw him join up with the rest of the side on a rebel tour to South Africa. Thus, a career with tons of promise was cut short in an absurd act of craziness as Hogg boarded the ship to South Africa along with Kim Hughes and Graham Yallop.

9. Bowling coach of Victoria

After retirement from first-class cricket, Hogg was a bowling coach for the Victorian team. He rejoined former Aussie teammate David Hookes with the latter appointed as head coach.

9. A controversial ‘Australian humor’

On Australia Day, 2012 Hogg sparked a controversy when he posted an offensive tweet about Allah. He later removed the tweet and apologised, claiming it was just a bad attempt at Australian humour.

10. Rodney Hogg: The psychic

In the early 90’s, Hogg began a column for ‘The Truth’ newspaper in Australia. He predicted that leg-spinner Shane Warne would amass over 500 wickets in his career. Hogg was subsequently fired from the newspaper and Warne completed his illustrious Test career with 708 wickets.

11. The Whole Hogg

Hogg’s autobiography is titled The Whole Hogg – Inside the mind of a lunatic fast bowler.

12. A commentator and greengrocery

After his career, Rodney Hogg became a commentator and fulfilled his lifelong dream of owing a greengrocery store.