Early career

Hogg had asthma as a child and battled it through his career.

Hogg started out as a batsman before switching to be an aggressive fast bowler. He made his grade cricket debut for Northcote in 1967–68.

He played for Victorian Colts in 1972–73.

He was not able to break into the Victoria side so he transferred to South Australia where he began his first class career in 1975–76, taking seven wickets in his debut against Victoria. South Australia won the Sheffield Shield that summer, although Hogg's contribution was relatively minimal.

Loss of players to World Series Cricket in 1977–78 saw Hogg mentioned as a possible test prospect that summer despite his lack of experience. He was unable to force his way into the test side – Jeff Thomson, Wayne Clarke, Ian Callen and Alan Hurst were the preferred fast bowlers – but he did take 36 first class wickets at an average of 27 over the summer, including 10–124 for South Australia against Queensland.

1978–79 Ashes: Test Debut

At the beginning of the 1978–79 summer, a fast bowling spot opened up in the Australian side when Jeff Thomson told selectors he would no longer be available for international matches. Hogg took 4–43 for South Australia against the touring English team and leapt into test contention. He was duly picked in the first test. His first class statistics at that stage were 54 wickets at 20. Hogg's selection was almost immediately in jeopardy when, in a Shield game against NSW, he had to minimise the amount of bowling due to stomach cramps and an asthma attack. However he recovered to take 5–73.

Hogg had a magnificent first test, top scoring in Australia's first innings with 36, then taking 6–74 in England's first innings. However he could not prevent England from comfortably winning the match.

His figures were even better in the second test, taking 5–65 and 5–67. Australia's batting did not support him and England won again. Hogg won man of the match.

Australia's fortunes changed in the third test – the batsmen managed to score some runs, and Hoggs' return of 5–30 and 5–36 helped the team to a 103 run victory.

Australia's bowlers performed excellently in the fourth test, dismissing England for 152 (Hogg 2–36). When Australia scored 294 in response they had an excellent chance of winning the game. However England made 346 in response (Hogg 4–67) and Australia collapsed for 111. Hogg was then rested for a Shield game out of fear of injury. He returned to make made his one-day international debut against England, taking 1–20 in an Australian defeat.

Hogg's incredible run continued in the fifth test, taking 4–26 and 3–59, but Australia lost the match. During the game Hogg had a confrontation with captain Yallop and left the field for an hour. Hogg asked to be not selected for the next international match, a one-day game, due to health concerns.

Australia lost the 6th test with Hogg taking 1–42. His 41 wickets in a series was a record for an Australian in an Ashes series (later broken by Terry Alderman), and is still (at the end of 2016) equal fifth for any player in any series.

That summer Hogg was tempted to move to Queensland for financial reasons but accepted a job offer from Hindmarsh Building Society to stay in South Australia.