Hoggard hopes revived

Scans on Matthew Hoggard's injured knee have revealed no cartilage damage, and he will play in a warm-up game next week as preparation for the Test series against West Indies, which starts at Lord's on July 22.

Hoggard injured his right knee in Yorkshire's National League game against Middlesex on Sunday, and limped out of the attack after bowling just three balls.

At the time there were fears that Hoggard had damaged the cartilage in his knee, but today Dr Peter Gregory, the ECB's chief medical officer, announced that: "The scan revealed no damage to Matthew's cartilage and he will continue to undergo treatment from the Yorkshire physiotherapist over the next few days. This is the same knee that Matthew injured last year and we decided to scan him as a precautionary measure."

Subject to fitness, Hoggard and Simon Jones, who suffered a stress fracture in his left foot during the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's, will now play for MCC against West Indies in a three-day match at Arundel, starting on July 13. Graham Thorpe and Mark Butcher will also play in that game for MCC, who will be captained by John Stephenson, the former Essex allrounder who recently started work at Lord's as MCC's new head of cricket.

MCC team to play West Indians (Arundel, July 13-15)
1 Alastair Cook (Essex), 2 Sven Koenig (Middx), 3 Mark Butcher (Surrey), 4 Graham Thorpe (Surrey), 5 Dale Benkenstein (South Africa), 6 John Stephenson (Essex, capt), 7 Riki Wessels (Northants, wk), 8 Min Patel (Kent), 9 Simon Jones (Glamorgan), 10 Charl Willoughby (South Africa), 11 Matthew Hoggard (Yorks).