CELEBRITY SWINGER: Trevor Hohns

How a cricket legend became a golfing tragic

By Peter Owen

A MEMBER of Allan Border’s wonderful 1989 Ashes team that pummelled England 4-0 and launched a golden era for Australian cricket, Trevor Hohns’ fondest memory of that tour was not a cricket ground, but a golf course.

Those were the days of long, leisurely excursions to the Old Country – a four-month jaunt that comprised matches against all England’s county sides, six well-spaced Tests, and an opportunity for the players to see the sights and hone their golfing skills.

Slazenger provided the team with 10 sets of golf clubs, put to good use by squad members like Dean Jones, Mark Taylor, Ian Healey, Border himself and, of course, Hohns – blokes who were almost as passionate about their golf as they were about cricket.

They played some of the most famous courses in England and Scotland on that tour – but for Hohns the highlight was his first visit to St Andrews and playing a round at the traditional home of golf.

“It was very special,” Hohns said. “We were so fortunate to experience something that every golfer dreams about.”

Hohns first played the game as a 12-year-old, smacking balls around the family’s Bald Hills farm, north of Brisbane, with his older brother Ted. Sometimes they’d take a bus and a tram and trek to Victoria Park, close to the city, for a round on the popular public course.

But, as he grew older, it became obvious that the gifted all-rounder was a cricketer of rare talent, and golf soon took second place, becoming just a pleasant distraction.

A handy middle order left-handed batsman and a crafty right-handed leg spinner, Hohns played grade cricket in Brisbane and was a regular in the strong Queensland Sheffield Shield squad.

“With remuneration the way it is, nobody wants to move on, but the conversation does need to take place.”

In 1985 he signed up to play for Kim Hughes’ Rebel Australians during the controversial twin series against South Africa. This was during the apartheid years, when politics dictated that no country should compete with the South Africans.

Those rebels paid a high price for their defiance, Hohns and his teammates banned from playing state and Test cricket for two years.

When he was cleared to return to the game, Hohns made up for lost time. He made his international debut at the age of 35 against the West Indies in early 1989, then became an important part of that Ashes squad.

He played the final five Tests against England, taking 11 wickets and averaging 31.75 with the bat, though his efforts were perhaps overshadowed by the heroics of Terry Alderman, who captured 41 wickets and Mark Taylor who scored 839 runs.

Hohns finished his first-class career with two centuries and 30 half-centuries from 152 matches, scoring 5210 runs at an average of 27.13. He took 288 wickets at an average of 37.15.

But it was as a national selector that Hohns will be largely remembered. Soon after he finished playing, he was appointed a selector and, in his first term, served from 1994 to 2006, taking over as chairman of the panel in 1996. 

It was a period of great success for the national side, winning the World Cup in 1999 and 2003, and scoring 16 consecutive Test victories under Steve Waugh’s captaincy.

Hohns quit the panel in 2005 after Australia’s 2005 Ashes loss in England, but returned in 2014. He was reappointed chairman two years later when Rod Marsh resigned.

In all he was a national selector for 21 years, including 16 as chairman, and rates introducing wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist to the national side in 1997 as one decision that stands out – even though it meant the end for Ian Healey, his friend and former teammate. 

Hohns believes it is vital that national selectors should have played the game at an elite level, and understand the requirements and pressures of representing Australia. And despite his friendship with many of the players, he says he never let the personal overrule the professional. 

He says one of the most difficult parts of the role is the inevitable discussion with senior players about their retirement plans. 

“With remuneration the way it is, nobody wants to move on, but the conversation does need to take place,” he said. “It’s a selector’s job to not just pick a team for the moment, but to ensure continued success into the future.

“Cricket has been great to me, and I have loved every minute of it, from the good times to the bad,” he said. “I have been extremely fortunate to be involved with some of the greatest Australian teams of all time and many of the best players to have played the game.”

Though he retains a keen interest in cricket – and reckons the Australians performed very well in England, winning the World Test Championship and tying the Test series – Hohns’ focus these days is on golf.

He moved to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast a few years ago and is a member of Maroochy River Golf Club, where he plays two or three times a week – sometimes with his wife Jacqui, who is also a member.

He talked her into taking up the game when their children were old enough to go to school, and they are now able to take golfing holidays together and with friends.

Hohns is an eight handicapper – not too shabby for a man who will turn 70 next birthday, though he grumbles that he’s let his handicap drift out from six.

His family – son Andrew, two daughters and their spouses – jointly own the classy waterside restaurant Pier 33, once the home of the Mooloolaba Yacht Club.

“We have a manager to run it, but Jacqui and I are there all the time – pretty much every day – cleaning and doing other things. It’s going really well.”

As for golf, he says he can’t get enough of it.

“I love the challenge of the game,” he said. “Though you’re in a group you’re always playing against yourself – trying to become better and hit the ball perfectly.”