On rainy days like these the mid-night oil burns in two hotel rooms that the Aussie squad occupies. Brad Hogg and Stuart Clark are, in more than one way, ‘students of the game’. The two academically inclined 30-plus cricketers use their spare time to be with their books. Before the tour, the two had said that considering the hectic itinerary it would be tough for them to work towards their degrees. But clouds over south India provide the bowlers an umbrella for scholastic pursuits. “Clark and I carry books with us all the time and try to sneak in some time to be with them. It is tough at times, but in case one is organised it is not impossible,” says the 36-year-old chinaman bowler Hogg. But with a washed-out training session today and with the prospect of a second straight abandoned game bright, it seems that this will be a tour where their brains might be more taxed than brawn. Hogg is working towards a degree in marketing and accounts at the Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, while Clark will soon be completing his marketing degree, moving on to pursue law. Contrary to the stereotypical ‘play hard, party harder’ Aussie macho image in India, the two present a contrast. Ask Hogg if he is called a nerd when he declines a ‘drink with the boys’ invitation, and he smiles. “At times, I have to say no. But one has to make sacrifices. No one has forced me to pursue higher education. It is my decision,” he says. Though when things get noisy in the neighbouring room, when “someone is playing television a bit loud and I am disturbed, I do get up and knock the door and ask them to be silent.”His father is a professional farmer. “We have about 4000 sheep at the farm. Besides, we also grow wheat and barley. We don’t appoint any farm hands, and when I am away my father takes care of everything. At home I am the farm hand. So my day could start with helping at the farm, followed by training and studying for my exams,” he says. Clark, who just had his first child, too has his hands full. “It’s my baby boy who decides my study schedule. Most of the time it is the sleep that I compromise on. I wake up early in case I am tied up in the day with the two most important things in my life — family and cricket,” he says. Ask the left-arm pacer to compare the pressure of a big-match day to the one before the exams and he says: “In exams it is I and the question paper. In cricket it is I along with my teammates competing against the rivals in front of a big crowd. So cricket is a bit more taxing.”Hogg feels cricket doesn’t give him anxiety like before an important exam.
