Hogg glad West Indies used his “pathetic… hopeless” sledge as motivation for shock Gabba win
Former Australian bowler Rodney Hogg is glad the West Indies used his comments as inspiration before their shock win in the second Test at the Gabba.
Hogg made headlines after describing the West Indies as hopeless and pathetic following their 10-wicket loss in Adelaide and gave them no chance of competing in Brisbane.
“Let’s not beat around the bush, they were hopeless (in Adelaide),” Hogg told Channel 10.
“We should have two divisions now. We can’t have these weak sides coming out here.
“Mitchell Starc with a brand-new pink ball, he’s going to run straight through them (at the Gabba). So, I wouldn’t think the game would go any further than three days. They’re pathetic. they’re pathetic.”
Those comments quickly caught the attention of West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite who said he and his side wanted to show the world they weren’t pathetic.
Braithwaite even asked Hogg whether his muscles were big enough for him while flexing, quickly returning fire following the win.
“I must say we had two words that inspired us in this Test match. Mr Rodney Hogg said we were ‘pathetic’ and ‘hopeless’, so that source was our inspiration. We wanted to show the world we’re not pathetic,” Brathwaite said.
“And I must ask him: Are these muscles big enough for him?”
While Hogg’s comments were proven wrong, he was glad to see the famous cricketing nation put in such a strong performance, particularly with how well they responded to a slow start in the first session on Day 1.
“When I looked at the West Indies in that first innings in this second Test, I was having a look here and I'm thinking to myself, ‘How good was my prediction?’,” Hogg said.
“They were 5/65 and Starc had three wickets … it was looking like a dead set two-and-a-half-day game.
“What an amazing performance, it was fantastic to see them given an opportunity to play a second Test match against Australia.
“The fact that they were up at the Gabba, some of them had never played in a day-night game before. There's a pink ball. They're in front of 30,000 or 40,000 people.
“It’s a different experience.”
While Hogg was made to eat humble pie, he stands by his comments that the side was pathetic in Adelaide.
He simply thinks the side built throughout the series before a spectacular last day in Brisbane led by the lone effort of quick bowler Shamar Joseph who claimed 7/68 in the eight-run win.
“Well, apparently, I've reinvented West Indies Test cricket,” Hogg joked.
“They were hopeless before I made those comments and they've, they've all jumped up and been motivated to play well.
“They came here with six guys that didn't have a Test cap and they were so inexperienced, and you sort of thought, ‘Well, they are a bunch of hopeless players’, but give them some game time a few of them showed, some real ability, didn't they?
“The better that the longer the two games went on, the better they got.”
The West Indies next gear up for a three-ODI series against Australia starting at the MCG on Friday afternoon.