Family ties: How tragedy fuelled Hogan's triumph

It's a Friday afternoon in April and Michael Hogan is in his two-bedroom Sydney apartment, packing his bags for a familiar trip north at the end of another cricket season.

The two-and-a-half-hour drive from the upper north shore to the suburbs of Newcastle is one Hogan, a 27-year-old council worker, knows well. For years, he has split his time between the city and his hometown, a country boy chasing a dream that had unexpectedly come into view in his early twenties, and one that had given him a razor-sharp focus following a life-altering event just months earlier.

With his family still reeling from a sudden and unspeakable tragedy, the journey up the coast is one he makes as often as he can.

Deep down, he knows they would rather him come home and stay there, and part of him wants that, too. But there is an even stronger force at play, an inner drive he has never felt before, that persuades him to continue straddling a life in two cities.

Hogan normally ignores calls from unknown numbers, but something about that afternoon compels him to make an exception when his phone buzzes. It is Tom Moody, the former Australia allrounder and then coach of Western Australia, who had heard of Hogan’s exploits in Sydney’s cut-throat grade competition and wants a closer look, urging him to abandon his plans for the weekend and fly to Perth instead.

Just days later, having belatedly returned to his hometown after a whirlwind trip west, Hogan is sitting in a pub when he gets another call from Moody, who had been so taken by his relentless, no-fuss approach to fast bowling that he asks him to move to Perth permanently.

"In the space of three days, I'd gone from a council worker to a professional sportsman," Hogan recalls.

"It was something else. I made my (Sheffield Shield) debut at the MCG, which was amazing, and I got the opportunity to work with some great coaches – Tom Moody, Mickey Arthur, Justin Langer – and play with and against some of the best players that Australia has produced.

"It was just a little bit surreal, really. I was able to play in the Big Bash, played against Shane Warne and Murali, which was something else. And I played with and against Ricky Ponting – unbelievable.

"These sorts of things that you'd never, ever thought you'd get a chance to do."

***

It is fitting that Hogan was offered his first professional contract in a pub, as it's here that this most unusual of journeys begins.

Having played cricket for a short time as a junior, he returned to the sport after he finished high school, tagging along with some friends in a pub cricket team on Saturday afternoons.

His life ambitions at the time were limited to what was right in front of him. He worked his own hours during the week installing Foxtel boxes around Newcastle, and social cricket offered the perfect centrepiece for his weekends. After a morning surf, he would play games in shorts, roll his arm over on concrete pitches, have a couple of drinks during the game, then head to the pub in the evening for a couple more.

But when he unexpectedly became one of the better bowlers in the competition, and was urged to test himself at higher levels, it forced him to re-assess his goals in life.

"I didn't really have a plan," he says. "I just had better things to do with my time, really (than play cricket). Newcastle's not a bad place to live; you've got your beaches and whatever else.

"I just sort of fell into playing a little bit of pub cricket with some mates. And then word got around and I ended up playing grade cricket the next year."

Having struggled in his first season playing in Sydney, Hogan returned to Newcastle to hone his game before, at the age of 27, he went back to the big smoke for "one last crack at it" in 2008, playing for Northern Districts in Sydney's top division.

He would finish the season as one of the leading wicket-takers in the competition and was good enough to earn a spot in NSW's second XI, playing alongside future Test stars like Mitchell Starc and Usman Khawaja.

Despite his success, he would concede later that he wasn't doing all he could to reach the next level. Cricket wasn't yet everything to him; he still enjoyed the social side of the game and his work as a groundsman for Hornsby Shire Council, where he helped prepare pitches during the week before bowling on them on Saturdays, was another distraction.

But just after the start of a new year came a lightning bolt that shook his very being.

The death of his younger brother in a car accident left him burdened with immeasurable grief and, with his cricket career at a crossroads, acted as a tipping point.

He vowed to no longer allow himself to just float along in life. No more time wasted, no more corners cut, no more opportunities missed.

"That was the eye-opening moment where I said: 'OK, it's time to stop stuffing around here and pull your finger out and make sure you be the best player you can be'," he says.

"That was a lightbulb moment, to take something good out of the bad.

"It was obviously quite tough, and it was one of those moments where I could have gone either way. I could have packed it in there and gone back home and spent time around the family.

"With quite a large family that had to deal with that, it would have been nice to be around. They may have wanted me or needed me around at various times.

"But I did what I felt I had to do, and that was try to be the best cricketer I could be."

Just months later, after his grief had fuelled a strong finish to the grade season, Hogan was in his apartment on that Friday afternoon when he got the initial call from Moody. He flew to Perth the next morning, bowled to players like Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges in the WACA nets as legends Dennis Lillee and Bruce Reid watched on, and justified the reputation that had reached Moody on the other side of the country.

Given he'd agonised over the decision to stay in Sydney at such a vulnerable time for his family, Hogan now faced the prospect of shifting even further away from home. But at a time of great sadness, he reasoned that his success could go some way to soothing their collective grief.

"It was probably something for them to look forward to as well," he says. "They're keen watchers and they're into their cricket, so I think that was something for them to be proud of and enjoy.

"I think it was a good moment for all of us."

Across the next three summers, Hogan established himself one of the Sheffield Shield's most reliable performers, with his 100 wickets in that time including 46 in the 2011-12 season, the second most in the competition.

Maximising his tall, wiry frame, he relied on unerring accuracy and a hint of seam movement, rarely straying from an awkward length that would draw an uncertain prod from a batter, often finding an edge behind.

But, once again, just as his cricket was on an upswing, factors outside his control forced him to reassess, and brought the promise of something new into focus.

***

December, 2012. A trademark Tasmanian westerly buffets Hogan and Justin Langer as they walk along the cycle track that surrounds West Park Oval in Burnie on the state's north coast.

The two men had met only weeks earlier but had already formed a connection; Hogan's no-fuss attitude resonated with Langer, and the fast bowler could see the former Test opener's passion was exactly what Western Australia needed after a destabilising 12 months.

Langer had returned to WA as head coach following the departures of Mickey Arthur and his replacement, Lachlan Stevens, in the space of a year, which came at a time of mass upheaval at board level and a much-publicised night out in South Africa, which led to the resignation of Marcus North as skipper and claims of "systemic" cultural issues.

Hogan, disillusioned with the off-field controversies, had looked abroad and decided to accept a dream multi-year offer to play county cricket for Glamorgan. The catch? Playing as a local in the UK, thanks to his mother's British passport, meant he would have to give up playing domestic cricket in Australia following the 2012-13 season.

At a time when the state's culture had hit a low ebb, Langer viewed Hogan as a key pillar of WA's rebuild. And as the pair walked laps of the wind-swept ground during a one-day game against Tasmania, he begged his fast bowler to reconsider.

"I loved him from day one," Langer recalls. "He's a hippie ... he never wears shoes, he's just so laid back and I thought he was a brilliant bowler.

"He wasn't getting picked in one-day cricket and I said, 'Mate, I guarantee you that you will play every game. You are exactly what we need ... what can we do?'

"I tried everything, every technique to get him to stay."

Once again, Hogan was torn between loyalty to those close to him, and the chance to maximise his potential.

"I couldn't see myself playing for another state," he says. "I'm quite loyal, so I couldn't see myself playing against WA. That didn't really sit right with me.

"I had the British passport option and I felt as a late starter, I could play for a lot longer. I think with 18 counties, they're always looking for bowlers and that would allow me to play longer than I potentially would have in Australia.

"I wasn't enjoying my time there pre-'JL' (Langer). And then I started to enjoy it a bit more … but in the end, I think my conscience got the better of me. I'd have loved to have stayed, but I'd signed that contract with Glamorgan, and I couldn't turn it down."

The qualities that compelled Hogan to honour his deal with Glamorgan – loyalty, honesty and integrity – were exactly why Langer wanted him to stay. But then a twist of fate allowed both men to get their way.

In a thinly-veiled attempt to lure Sydney-born county star Sam Robson home, Cricket Australia changed the regulations that had prevented Australian-born cricketers from being classified as 'overseas players' in the Sheffield Shield. Robson never took advantage of the rule change, but Hogan and Langer did.

For three years, Hogan split his time between Cardiff and Perth, ironically playing as a local in the UK and as an overseas player in Australia, enjoying an endless summer that yielded hundreds of wickets on both sides of the globe.

When he finally opted to leave Perth for good in 2016, seeking a permanent home base for his young family in the UK, he did so as a legend of Western Australian cricket.

In seven Sheffield Shield seasons, Hogan finished in the top 10 wicket-takers five times, with his 221 wickets in 60 games placing him eighth on the list of WA's most prolific Shield bowlers.

"He was unflappable," Langer says. "You wouldn't have to say a word … and you'd know he'd turn up every game and do the job.

"He'd be physically prepared, mentally prepared and strategically prepared, and he'd get on and do the job for you. And you can't ask for much more than that.

"He's much loved as a bloke, but he's had such longevity because as a coach or a captain or a teammate, you'd have him in your team every day of the week.

"He's zero fuss, he's low maintenance, and he just gets the job done."

It's an approach Hogan took with him to Glamorgan, where he's continued to play for the past seven years, making up for his late arrival to the game and playing beyond his 40th birthday.

A decade in Wales has left a lasting impression on him, and he on the club. After Hogan confirmed the 2022 northern summer would be his last, Glamorgan chose to honour their one-time skipper with a testimonial season, essentially a series of fundraisers awarded to only an elite group of county pros, to thank him for his service and help him start a new life.

It's a fitting tribute for a man closing in on 900 wickets across his professional career, and whose first-class record puts him in elite company. Having recently taken his 650th first-class scalp, just weeks before turning 41, Hogan sits behind only Peter Siddle (690) among Australian fast bowlers this century.

And he's not exactly cruising to the finish line, either. Having led Glamorgan to the one-day cup title last year, the county's first piece of silverware in almost 25 years, Hogan has taken 19 wickets in six games to start his 17th and final season of first-class cricket.

In making his retirement date official and confirming his family's return to Australia, Hogan has found comfort rather than any lingering regret.

"I remember when I finished and told everyone at the WACA, I was quite emotional because I knew that I still had cricket left and I would have loved to have kept playing," he says.

"But when I told the boys over here, it was pretty obvious ... I still had a season left in me, but that was it. It was time to finish.

"I've never tried to be flashy or tried to stand out. I just like to go about my business and then clock off. Turn up, play as many games as you can and do your best.

"I'm excited, nervous (about retiring) – you get a full, wide range of emotions. I'm not really sure what to expect. But what I do know is it's time."

Unlike the start of his cricketing journey two decades ago, Hogan will have clear motivations when he returns to Newcastle at the end of this year. With a newly built home in the Hunter Valley, he has plans to start a cricket academy in the area – Langer, unprompted, offers that Hogan would "be a brilliant coach one day" – and he has not ruled one last season for the Merewether Cricket Club this summer, almost 20 years since he last played there.

Ultimately though, the end of Hogan's playing career – just like the start – is driven by family.

His wife Rachel, a lawyer who also hails from Newcastle, and their two children have sacrificed friendships, family and careers to support his cricket on both sides of the world.

Now he wants to put them first.

"We're still Aussies," he says with a smile. "I mean, the kids have Welsh accents ... (but) they will hopefully lose them pretty quick when we move back.

"Rachel's career has been obviously put on hold for 12 to 15 years, chasing me around cricket. She's raised the kids for the last 10 years.

"So it's her turn now."

Check out all the details for Michael Hogan's 2022 Testimonial 

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