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Brad Hogg,
the unlikely elder statesman of World Twenty20, remembers how he
reacted when an Australian selector raised the prospect of him returning
to international cricket when his 41st birthday was already spent: he
went home and got out his bike.
"It was during the Perth Test against India in January," Hogg said. "One
of the selectors came up and asked me if I was interested in playing
for Australia again. I definitely wasn't going to knock that back. I
went straight back home that night after the Test match and went for a
bike ride. I wanted to make sure I was in peak condition.
"I went down by the Swan River; it's beautiful down there. I felt
strong, going into the city with the wind behind me, and then I realised
how strong the wind was when I was going back."
No matter that he slowed a bit. He will have reminded himself that he
was still very much alive simply by feeling the wind aginst his face.
Considering that this is the month when Australia's T20 ranking
officially fell - albeit briefly - below that of Ireland, Hogg is a good
man to have around. Others can agonise about whether the rating is
deserved or whether Australia has still not much of an affinity for the
short form. Hogg simply looks at his career record of two World Cups and
one Champions Trophy win and states quite simply that he would love to
complete the set.
Life has been unpredictable since he announced his retirement from
Australian cricket four years ago. He has a new fiancée, Cheryl
Bresland, who doubles up as his manager and who encouraged him to give
cricket another shot if retirement was a pain he could do without, and
so it is that World Twenty20 - the format that was once assumed to be
harsh on both age and spin bowling - has a 41-year-old Chinaman bowler
vying for attention.
Hogg alluded to changes in his professional and personal life when he
said: "There are a few things that have happened over past few years I
didn't expect to happen. There are a lot of surprises in life. Work
hard, stick at it and take the opportunities when they come."
Sri Lanka has good memories for Hogg. He made his Australia debut here, against Zimbabwe in August 1996
at the R Premadasa Stadium. That Australian team is long retired, all
bar Hogg and Ricky Ponting who is still bent upon extending his Test
career.
Michael Slater and Ian Healy took up commentating, his first victim, Ali
Shah, also had a stint in the commentary box, but the career move was
not successful for Hogg who tried it when Australia toured India in 2010
and revealed an excitable, shouty, occasionally hard-to-fathom style.
As a cricketer, though, there are few smarter. Few play T20 with more
nous than Hogg, whose subtle changes of approach are likely to be
challenging whatever pitches Sri Lanka delivers. If there is no turn, he
will hope instead for a two-paced surface to add more unpredictability.
"There is no doubt that Brad is going to play a huge role," his
team-mate, Shane Watson, said. "As a high-quality bowler, he can bowl on
any surface with the deception that he has got."
Even after all this time they say that many players still cannot unravel
Hogg's googly. "I think the Australian guys are still trying to work me
out on a personal level as well," Hogg said. He delights in playing for
Australia and sees no need to try to be sophisticated about its
pleasures. To be presented with an unexpected opportunity has turned the
dial up to maximum.
Australia's T20 tournament - the Big Bash League - is not helped by the
fact that it clashes with the international season, but the selectors
took it seriously enough and, perhaps, the absence of the established
stars worked to Hogg's advantage.
His form was a revelation after the Perth Scorchers came looking.
Rajasthan Royals also called him up for the IPL. He takes pride in his
fitness levels and as he chatted about his return on a typically sultry
day in Colombo he cheerfully invited one journalist of more tender
years, who had wondered if he was struggling to keep up these days, to
look to his own waistline and join him for a gym session.
Injuries have, so far, stayed away. "Everything is still working fine,"
he said. "I still think I'm fairly quick around the field when I'm
fielding, but I look at some footage and I start to realise that I am a
little bit slower than I think.
"Some of my team-mates are probably old enough to be my sons. But it's
just a normal changing room. It only took two minutes on the team bus
for me to feel part of it again. Nothing had changed. They were still
taking the mickey out of me.
"The music is a little bit better than the last couple of years I was
playing. They have a good concoction, I might get my iPod out and put a
bit of Blues on and see how we go."
David Hopps is the UK editor of ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: David Hopps
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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