Brad Hogg, a master of slow left-arm chinaman bowling and unpredictably fast flippers, has established himself as one of the best international spinners in the last decade.
Background
Hogg’s career has gone through several changes since his birth on February 6, 1971. He began his career as a middle order batsman and medium pacer for Western Australia, but under the guidance of former South African and Zimbabwean test player John Traicos and former Australian leg spinner Tony Mann, he turned to chinaman bowling.
He featured in 99 first-class games, scoring 3992 runs at 35.01 and taking 181 wickets. With his signature “big grin and outwards probing tongue,” a young quality bowling all-rounder was about to knock on the doors of the Australian international team.
Debut
Hogg would have worn the Baggy Green even faster if Australia hadn’t been gifted with one of the best spinners in the world, Shane Warne. Due to Warne’s injury, Hogg was called up to stand in for the Zimbabwe tour in August 1996 and the Indian tour in October 1996.
Hogg made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in August 1996, and his test debut against India in December of the same year. In both of his debut matches, he managed to take a wicket.
Rise to Glory
Hogg’s cricket career took a sharp upscaling turn when he was drafted into the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup squad after Warne’s unceremonious departure due to a drug test failure. As his fizzing balls perplexed veteran players like Andy Flower, Hogg took the world by storm.
Hogg finished the tournament with 13 wickets, including a three-wicket haul against Pakistan in his first World Cup match.
In the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, he was Australia’s spin bowling expert.
Low Points
Hogg was dumped for the next seven years after his first Test chance in Delhi in 1996.
Hogg was charged with a category three offence under the ICC’s code of conduct after referring to Indian captain Anil Kumble and vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as “bastards.” He was not charged, though, since the BCCI dropped the charges a few days later.
Retirement
Brad Hogg was unable to build on his consistency achieved during the Caribbean World Cup. Hogg ended his international career in 2008 after taking a thrashing from the batsmen during the India tour.
Surprise Comeback
After dazzling appearances in the Big Bash League of 2011-12, Hogg made a sensational return to the T20I circuit after a five-year absence, being rushed into Australia’s squad to face India at home.
Rajasthan Royals chose him in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League. In the eighth edition of the IPL, his results helped him land a lucrative deal with the Kolkata Knight Riders.
After being chosen for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, he became the oldest Australian cricketer to be named in a World Cup squad at the age of 41. When he was included in the Australian squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in 2014, at the age of 43, he revised this list.