Ex-Oz quick Hogg says Sri Lanka’s ‘new ball’ attack worst ever to tour Down Under

Sydney: Former Australia fast bowler Rodney Hogg has claimed Sri Lanka’s fast bowling attack is the worst to tour Down Under ever. The sixth-ranked visitors will enter Friday``s first Test in Hobart with the world``s leading spinner, Rangana Herath, and run-scoring maestros Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in their line-up but their seaming stocks are unquestionably their Achilles heels. The three Sri Lankan fast bowlers to feature at Bellerive Oval, Nuwan Kulasekara, Shaminda Eranga and Chanaka Welegedara have only 38 Tests and fewer than 100 wickets between them.

None of Sri Lanka``s five quicks on tour, with the others being Dhammika Prasad and Nuwan Pradeep, have played 20 Tests and none average under 30 for a wicket. “Sri Lanka have the worst new ball attack that has landed on our shores ever,” the Age quoted Hogg’s tweet, as saying on Wednesday. The 61-year-old veteran of 38 Tests later said he believed the Sri Lankan pace contingent to be of even lower quality than the touring Zimbabwe side of 2003-04. “I had a look at the stats. No [fast] bowler has got 50 Test wickets. Kulasekara looks like he``d be a good third bowler and I``ve gone through all their other fast and fast-medium bowlers and they``re all terrible. It``s got to be pretty close to the worst attack, doesn``t it?” Hogg said. “Zimbabwe had Heath Streak and he had over 150 Test wickets. They at least had a frontline fast bowler. This mob hasn``t got a No. 1 bowler. They haven``t got a No. 2 bowler,” he added. “Obviously these blokes have bowled on subcontinent wickets, so I``m being a bit harsh. But their stats don``t stack up. We``re trying to sort out what our top order is; this attack is not going to sort out our top order,” he said. ANI