‘I was still abusing the umpire’: When wrong LBW call against Chris Gayle left Brad Hogg fuming

Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg recalled the 2015 Big Bash League encounter between Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers in which he was smashed for 44 runs in 4 overs. Speaking in a video on his Youtube channel ‘Hogg’s Vlog’, the former left-arm spinner explained how he lost his cool during the match over a wrong LBW call which nearly cost his team.

“30th December, 2015, it’s Melbourne Renegades vs Perth Scorchers. Chris Gayle is playing for Renegades, Hoogg is playing for Scorchers. Before the game, I was hoping that our opening bowlers would make the breakthrough and not allow me to get exposed to Chris Gayle. The reasons being the conditions at dockland were not conducive to my bowling. Pitch stays low. I like a pitch with extra bounce because of my top spin where I hit the bat high up on the splice,” Hogg said.

“Chris Gayle already had one-up on me before we started the game. When I came on, I had two plans to Chris Gayle. The first one was up to keep him off strike. The first ball I am bowling, Aaron Finch was on strike. And he turned over the strike straightaway. So, I had the next five balls to Chris Gayle,” Hogg recalled.

“I wanted him to ball quick into the pitch just short of the length. But I didn’t want to be too short because he would be able to pull me, I didn’t want to be just overpitched where he could just power me down the ground. So, as I started bowling, I already had negative thoughts, and I gave away a four and a six in the next three balls,” he further said.

The 49-year-old further recalled how he changed his plans to bowl a quicker one which trapped Gayle on the pads, but the umpire was not convinced that it was hitting the middle stumps. “It was in the 5th delivery, I thought I’d rather slow it up rather than bowl quicker, just to see if I can bamboozle him, and make him swing a little bit earlier. Slowed it up, he missed it. LBW, right in front, hitting middle stump. Umpire gave it not-out.

“Now this umpire has never umpired me before. ‘Why haven’t you given that out, mate’, why haven’t you given that out’. He said ‘it was missing leg stumps’. I said ‘you gotta be kidding me, what do you mean it’s missing leg stumps, it’s turning back and hitting middle’. He said ‘it was wrong-un, and going down leg’. I went off my tree. I said ‘mate, you haven’t seen one ball that I have bowled in my life, and you are telling me that’s wrong-un, when I have actually bowled a leggie. Come on! If that’s cost us the game tonight, it’s on your head’,” Hogg said.

He went on to recall how the decision led to him losing his concentration and he was “annihilated” by Chris Gayle in his next few overs. “The next ball, dot. But the next over, I went for 13 (16, actually). The reason I went for 13 (16) was because I was fielding at square leg when Andrew Tye was bowling his over, and I was still abusing the umpire. I didn’t focus on the job at hand. I went for 44 that evening. And Chris Gayle annihilated me.”

Hogg advised that everyone should do all things with positive mindset and the right attitude to achieve success. “Gayle made me look like a 2nd grade bowler. But, it’s just simple. Anything you do in life, you’ve got the wrong attitude, the wrong mindset, things fall apart. I lost focus, I got angry, and I didn’t control the controllables,” he said.

“So, when you are out in the middle, just make sure, you control the decisions. Don’t get upset over a bad ball. Don’t get upset over bad decisions. If you have got the right mind, you can make it up the very next ball. And that was the difference between Shane Warne playing Test cricket over myself. He had a better mindset in the game of cricket. He was so good in not letting things to him,” Hogg signed off.