Gilchrist
supports spinner's push to fill Warne's shoes
Hogg back in Test contention
MELBOURNE:
In the middle of the World Cup-winning celebrations
Adam Gilchrist stopped for a few minutes to say
Brad Hogg was capable of being Australia's Test
spinner next summer. On a day of toasting in Barbados
that included lunch on a yacht owned by James
Packer, the son of Kerry, and a dawn swim, Gilchrist
managed to look ahead to the side's next series
against Sri Lanka in November. With Glenn McGrath
joining Shane Warne in retirement, Australia's
bowling attack will have a new look and Gilchrist
said Hogg could step in after a World Cup of 21
wickets at 15.8. "Hogg has thrown himself
back into contention for Test cricket," Gilchrist
said in the Courier-Mail. "We have lost one
of the greatest but we have a guy there who has
stood up on the world stage again. All credit
to him." During the home summer it seemed
Hogg, who is now 36, was heading for the exit
after playing only one CB Series preliminary game.
However, his performances in the Caribbean have
earned him extra space ahead of the young bowlers
Dan Cullen and Cameron White and the experienced
Stuart MacGill. Hogg played the last of his four
Tests in 2003, but he has showed how valuable
he can be with his hard-to-pick wrong'un. Gilchrist
plans to stay on in both forms of the game and
he marked his third consecutive World Cup victory
with a picture with McGrath and Ricky Ponting,
who were the only other men to be part of all
the triumphs. "I certainly made sure I had
a photo with the other two because they are truly
legends of the game," Gilchrist said. "There
are a lot of players who have played World Cup
cricket who have not won one, let alone won three.
To be part of that group was a huge thrill."—Agency