The invaluable shop-floor steward
Michael Vaughan, Alex Bowden and Stephen Brenkley all pay tribute to Matthew Hoggard, a key component in England's attack during the 2000s
12-Sep-2013
A day after Matthew Hoggard announced his retirement from cricket, in the Telegraph his former captain Michael Vaughan pays tribute to a key component in England's attack during the 2000s, and describes what it was like to captain a player like Hoggard.
Whenever he bowled an absolute jaffa I would go up to him and say enough of that, get back to the hard work. That sounds harsh but I knew that underneath he was insecure about himself and he enjoyed being the underdog, the one not expected to deliver. He would talk down the game and his chances. That was his way of keeping expectations low, as much to himself as the rest of us.
I realised we had to give him a role he could identify with and even though being the shop worker sounds as if he was the last choice, it worked for him. When he had the ball in his hand we bowled for dots and not jaffas. We did not over-attack with fields. He did not grab the headlines but for me he was the most important man.
Alex Bowden in his blog, King Cricket, also showers praise upon the seamer, who with 248 wickets, is England's seventh-highest wicket-taker in Tests.
The perception of Matthew Hoggard was always of a toiler; the kind of cricketer who made the most of his talent (like that's a crime, rather than part of the job). This always grated with us, even if Hoggard himself tended to play up to it, saying he just whanged the ball down. That kind of assessment devalues not just Hoggard, but the complexities of cricket itself. He may have bowled about 10mph slower than Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison, but he took more Test wickets at a lower average and with a better strike rate.
Despite an impressive career, Hoggard is perhaps best remembered for driving Brett Lee for a four that all but sealed a three-wicket win for England in Trent Bridge during the historic 2005 Ashes. Stephen Brenkley, writing for the Independent, reminisces that famous moment.
A searing full-length inswinger turned into a rapid, low full toss. And praise be, Hoggard leant forward as if he might have been the reincarnation of Len Hutton and unfurled a rasping cover drive as nonchalantly as a lounge lizard ordering a cocktail. It raced to the boundary. Four runs were still wanted but in that moment it was all but done. It is paradoxical and it may be slightly unfair that one of England's most accomplished swing bowlers who was a batting duffer should be recalled for one shot. But Hoggy or Matthew, never Matt, will hardly mind. An iconoclastic soul and much smarter, both as bowler and man, than he often tried to convey, he might have been a vet had things gone differently.