Philander is making a Hogg of himself

I remember being a wide-eyed teenager watching Rodney Hogg decimate England during the 78/79 Ashes series in Australia.

It was the summer that World Series Cricket exploded onto the cricketing radar and all the revered and regular Australian stars had been snaffled by the Packer steam train.

Hoggy was relatively unknown but I can guarantee that he was soon an instant Australian hero as he kept knocking over Boycott in his warm-up over! You can just imagine how much the Aussie public enjoyed that! His reward of five five-wicket hauls in his first three tests was mind-boggling, and a star was born.

We now have another one.

Vernon Philander's enviable consistency on the park has been duplicated whenever he has been forced into the media glare. His stock standard answer when pushed to explain his extraordinary purple patch has been, "I just try to keep things simple".

Some have concluded that his response is a timid reaction to him suddenly being thrust into the spotlight. The truth of the matter is that his answer is spot on.

Philander has not been doing anything special. He is the first to admit that he has been fortunate to start his career on responsive tracks, therefore instantly promoting belief.

Thereafter, he has just executed the basics superbly. If a pitch is seamer friendly, one needs to land the ball consistently in the corridor of uncertainty on a challenging length that demands precision from the batsman. The cricketing version of being caught in the cross-hairs is the desired result.

Allan Donald told me during the last test that he has not seen anyone hit those ideal '50/50 lengths' so consistently for a very long time.

At the moment with Vernon it doesn't end there. His release point has been controlled and the resultant seam position has been gun-barrel straight, giving him every opportunity to extract deviation upon landing.

He possesses enough zip to hurry the best from that platform and coupled with the proven fact that he nibbles the ball just enough, he is proving a massive obstacle for all the visitors this summer.

His success is based on the sound but basic theory that he is presenting himself with every possible opportunity to force an error and examine technique.

In the back of his mind is also a burning desire to succeed following an all too brief appearance in South African colours that eventually disappointingly deemed him superfluous to their needs.

If asked, it wouldn't take long for some of the best such as Clarke, Ponting, Hussey, Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Dilshan to confirm his effectiveness.

Vernon knows test cricket is normally not this easy and things will change, but at the moment he is making a Hogg of himself.