Ever Present Past: The tale of Brad Hogg

Manchester United is currently facing a bad slump under current manager Louis van Gaal. For Red Devils legend Paul Scholes, it is nothing short of a catastrophe. He is seen venting out his feelings at the team following each and every match. How can you blame him? The team that he was a part of all his life is burning in flames at the moment. Such is his engagement that he is willing to get on the pitch, donning the red and white of Manchester United. And for what, just to teach the new age team a thing or two about football? Why not? They are playing as poorly as ever.

There have been plenty of instances where the older generation has come in to make an impact on the game. You can take the man away from cricket but you cannot take cricket away from the man. Whoever said that was bloody right. Thousands of miles east of Manchester, across the Indian Ocean, was 45-year old Brad Hogg. Rahul Dravid aged 43 was in the Delhi dugout, rendering his services as the mentor. At first, you might have thought that Hogg too was in somewhat of an advisory capacity for the Knight Riders.

Well, in the case of Hogg’s ageing body, it seems as though cricket will never leave him. He walked onto the middle, sporting his trademark sun hat while doing his regular tongue twisters. He was pumped, excited and raring to go. He carefully listened to the orders that came in from his skipper Gautam Gambhir before jogging off to the longer side of the fence to take up his fielding position. Gambhir, the skipper of the Knight Riders is a decade younger than Hogg. The irony is an understatement.

The wrinkles on his face were quintessential scars. Scars that he had acquired all through his prolific career as a ‘Chinaman’ bowler. A chinaman you say. What sort of bowling action is that? For those with that question, there is really no answer. For others who are wondering, it is not the way a barman spins a bottle of rum or a technique to make a vodka martini.

‘Chuck Fleetwood-Smith’ first perfected the art of Chinaman bowling all those years back in the 1930’s. Australians who survived since then have indeed witnessed the art of Chinaman bowling by watching Brad Hogg bowl.

Bearing in mind what Gautam Gambhir’s said prior to taking the field, off went Hoggie to the deep square leg fence. He had indeed found his spot in the field. While a refreshing chats on the mic with Matthew Hayden and Sanjay Manjrekar, Brad Hogg declined his rightful seat in the commentary box. He deserved the seat by a country mile. However, his junior in the Australian team Matthew Hayden’s words did little to brainwash the evergreen, Mr. Hogg.

It was also somewhat of a surprise when the Knight Riders, in their infinite wisdom had decided on retaining Brad Hogg in their ranks. Would he be a part of the coaching staff perhaps? Only Wasim Akram is older than Hogg in the coaching staff, excluding the advisors and the consultants of course.

The Delhi Daredevils were reeling at 49/4 when Brad Hogg came into bowl. It was the ninth over and the Daredevils had pinned their hopes on the young shoulders of Pawan Negi and Sanju Samson. Hogg was bowling to a fellow southpaw, someone who was almost half his age. Better yet, the combined ages of Samson and Negi was lesser than Hogg. Irony once more.

A few prods off the pad and a couple of practice strokes, Negi had indeed had enough of it. He was going to smack the ball. Where and how didn’t really matter? He was going to give the Daredevils players and the fans a boost. Hogg charged in. In slow motion of course. Negi charged down the wicket as planned. A few seconds later, his head was drooping below his shoulders. He had just been beaten and comprehensively at that.

A few deliveries later, Samson was dismissed for the similar sort of delivery. The grand old man of cricket had just netted his second victim. His flight and spin ensured that he got yet another wicket. And that was it. Hogg had done his job and was back where he started – along the deep square-leg fence. Only, this time, he had a sinister smile on his face. His tongue was twisting over time.

The way Hogg is bowling at the moment, it begs to ask the question regarding his retirement. As far as I am concerned, Hogg can continue playing and even feature in the 2020 edition of the World T20. Although that is a bit of a long shot, the attitude of Brad Hogg has taught us all an extremely important lesson. Age and ‘child-like’ enthusiasm do not go hand in hand. And as for Brad Hogg, being able to execute such amazing bowling performances at such an old age is simply extraordinary. And even that, is an understatement.

As said by Brad Hogg himself: “There are people out there digging holes for a living and we’re actually playing cricket. So stop whingeing.” Although he meant for it to be in a completely different context, that quote certainly speaks a lot about Brad Hogg, the grand old man of the sport we all love.