Rodney Hogg: Mitchell Johnson would have broken my Ashes record if he had another Test to play

Rodney Hogg had collected 41 wickets at an average of 12.85 in 1978-79 Ashes.

Sydney: Jan 7, 2014

Former Australian fast bowler Rodney Hogg has said that current pace sensation Mitchell Johnson would have broken his record of 41 wickets in over six matches in a home Ashes series if he had another Test up his sleeve. ”Man of the Series” Johnson in Australia”s 5-0 whitewash of England finished with a stunning 37 victims, destroying the visitors with a brutal combination of short-pitched bowling and speed, while Hogg collected 41 wickets at an average of 12.85 for an Australian team missing its World Series Cricket superstars in 1978-79 over six Tests.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Hogg, who pocketed 40 in the first five matches of that campaign, compared the performances of Johnson and Ryan Harris to that of legendary duo Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee in their heydays and said that the rejuvenated left-armer would have broken his record if there was another Test to come. Stating that Johnson would have taken another 10 wickets given the way he was bowling, Hogg also said that had Johnson played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during 1978-79, he would have taken 25 wickets on that pitch.

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