CRICKET lovers will have the chance to get up close and personal with two of Australia’s most famous icons later this month.
Allan Border and Rodney Hogg are combining in a very special event that will be staged at the Port Macquarie Golf Club on Thursday 17 July.
Officially called The Allan Border Show with Rodney Hogg, the evening promises to be a hilarious trip down memory lane as Border and Hogg share some of their favourite moments.
For unyielding courage, bravery and utter defiance, Border embodied greatness as one of Australia’s best batsmen and captain. Some say he was the best, for when Australian cricket reached its lowest ebb Border gave the nation hope.
Time and again, he went out and helped win the unwinnable: never taking a backward step.
Batting is easier today than when Border played. Flat pitches, heavy bats, shorter boundaries, and ordinary bowlers favour big-hitting batsmen.
Border took guard against the greatest bowlers of all time – Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Richard Hadlee, Allan Donald and those West Indians. They were the finest collection of fast bowling talent in the game’s history.
And what about Rodney Hogg, or Hoggie, as he is affectionately known, who will be sharing the stage at the dinner?
Well, just for starters, he took 41 glorious wickets at 12.85 in the 1978-’79 Ashes series.
Hoggie started life as a batsman before discovering that he could be a mean fast bowler. He probably thought he was always a batsman, even when he was languishing at the bottom of the order; he did crack an impressive 52 in one match.
But it was as a somewhat erratic but very quick bowler that he made his name.
His autobiography is titled ‘The Whole Hogg – Inside the Mind of a Lunatic Fast Bowler’, which says something about his attitude to cricket and life generally.
He did have moments when he would kick down the stumps, storm off the field or engage in a public spat with his captain. But in between times, he took down some famous batsmen with aggressive bowling and the occasional sledge. The way he beat up on England’s Geoffrey Boycott particularly endeared him to the Australian public.
Since retirement, Hoggie has never been short of an opinion about nearly everything and has become a very accomplished public speaker guaranteed to have his audience rolling on the floor in laughter.
Tickets for the Allan Border Show with Rodney Hogg cost $120 a person, which includes a two-course meal and three-hour drink package (conditions apply).
To book, contact reception at the club. The MC for the night is Justin Karcher and the fun kicks off at 7pm.
