Hogg Wants World Cup in WA

Former Australian spin bowler Brad Hogg says he'd love to see the T20 World Cup played solely in Western Australia and has come up with a radical plan to make it work.

"I think there's an opportunity to have the whole World Cup here in WA. We've got a lot of our grounds here where you can actually play it. You don't want to have the World Cup in stadiums because you'll get that echo effect [with no crowds], and you'll hear players out in the middle and it'll get frustrating for the viewer" Hogg told Sports Breakfast. "So the players come over a month before, or a month and a half before - they come in chartered flights and quarantine for two weeks, and after that quarantine they are limited to what they can do which is only train and play."

"So I think we play it here in WA at the scheduled time because we're one of the least affected by the Coronavirus, and we can play it on out grounds like Lilac Hill - it's a great venue, and instead of having stands, you get nature in the background. It will be a little bit like the Tour de France, where they're riding in the countryside."

"You don't want to cancel it for two reasons - one the public are getting itchy for some live entertainment, and two, if we reschedule it to a later date it'll get a little weird because within a year there's another T20 World Cup in India so if we reschedule it to Christmas or January then we'll have two T20 World Cups within the space of 9 months and it just won't fit."

Hogg, who recently returned from a coaching stint in India, also echoed the sentiments of recently retired bowler Steve O'Keefe when it came to the lack of spin-condusive pitches in Australia.

"The one thing that's frustrating me with cricket at the moment, is that pitches are becoming too similar all over the country, and probably all over the world. That was the great thing about our game - you'd go over to Sydney and it would be completely different to what we're used to at the WACA and it really sorted the men out from the boys"

You can find the interview in full below, or subscribe to the Sports Breakfast podcast.