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matthew-hoggard
Captain Hoggard
By Will last year, mid-November, No Comments; be the first!
Matthew Hoggard is many things: an expert at swing bowling, the hardest of try-hards, searingly honest and a breathtakingly fresh interviewee. But a captain? Well, apparently so. Poor bugger was spitting nails at Yorkshire, so I’m glad he’s not yet hung up the boots.
No Comments »Gillespie and Hoggard reunited
By Will last year, at the start of July, No Comments; be the first!
We’re very pleased and fortunate to have both Jason Gillespie and Matthew Hoggard writing for us during the Ashes. Dizzy’s first column went up today, so give both of them a read – should be a bit of a laugh.
No Comments »Hoggard on Vaughan
By Will last year, at the end of June, No Comments; be the first!
No Comments »Before I crack on with my eulogy to Michael Vaughan, there is one thing I’ve got to get off my chest: he ain’t a Yorkshire lad, he’s from fricking Lancashire!
Hoggy: Welcome to My World: The Peculiar World of Matthew Hoggard
By Will last year, at the end of May, 5 Comments »
I can’t urge you enough 
Having a week off has allowed me to read some books, and Matthew Hoggard’s is one that I’m making my way through. It is like no sporting biography I’ve encountered before, which is just as well: most are excruciatingly tedious and premature. Hoggy, on the other hand, has written his with an England career behind him (or so he and we begrudgingly believe).
Like the man himself, it is unashamedly bonkers and refreshingly obscure. There are scribbles and cartoons (of his wife, Sarah, though they look as though his toddler son Ernie drew them), and whole paragraphs dedicated to his dogs. He attributes his run-up to a quirk in the layout of his garden when he was young. And he is surely the first cricketer, nay sportsman, to mention masturbation as a key aspect of surviving long tours overseas.
I can’t urge you enough to buy it
Bruised by Hoggy
By Will 2 years ago, mid-June, No Comments; be the first!
Friend of the blog; friend of beer; friend of cheese, Patrick Kidd, has been bruised like a pear by Matthew Hoggard. Stop laughing – you’d do no better and nor would I.
Never trust a Yorkshireman, even those with an amiable gait. That’s what I say.
No Comments »Hoggard returns; no cover for Collingwood
By Will 2 years ago, mid-May, 8 Comments »
So, Matthew Hoggard has been included in England’s 12-man squad for the first Test, alongside Paul Collingwood. Interestingly, Collingwood – who has an injured shoulder – wasn’t given any cover. No Ravi Bopara or Luke Wright to be seen. Andrew Strauss retains his place.
Batting looks strong, and the bowling ought to be too…but I’m never comfortable with Jimmy Anderson in the side. Who knows what he’ll do?
England squad
Michael Vaughan (capt), Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose (wk), Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Matthew Hoggard.
Fletcher attacks Harmison
By Will 2 years ago, mid-April, 3 Comments »
Watch out, fading fast bowlers the world over. Duncan Fletcher has spoken to his former ghost-writer, Steve James, and has some things to say about Steve Harmison:
“It’s typical Harmy, I’m afraid,” he says, “We’ve seen it over and over again. He could and should be the No 1 one bowler in the world but he can’t seem to be able to put it all together.
“I saw an interview on TV the other day where he was having a go back at some current players who’d criticised him. He said something about not being able to wait to see them from 22 yards. Why does he need things like that to motivate himself? Why can’t he just motivate himself? I think he’ll find it hard to get back in. He’ll need some consistent performances to do so.”
And Matthew Hoggard:
And his fellow omission in New Zealand, Matthew Hoggard? “I was not surprised,” he says, “He always struggled when he was the main strike bowler. His speed has been dropping for a while. I heard someone saying he’d lost his nip but I thought it had gone a while ago.”
And…well, you get the idea. James is full of praise for Fletcher – they are good mates and, from the few occasions I have spoken to him, James comes across as a shrewd assessor of a man’s character. Fletcher’s is the sharpest mind in cricket, he reckons. So have a read.
3 Comments »New Zealand v England, 2nd Test, Wellington
By Will 2 years ago, mid-March, 8 Comments »
To windy Wellington we go for the second Test, with England lacking two of their most experienced fast bowlers, Matthew Hoggard (err – what?) and Steve Harmison. I’d have agreed with dropping Hoggard – if only to send shockwaves through the team that anything other than an excellent performance simply won’t suffice. But this is meant to be a green, seam-friendly swinger in Wellington – and as “talented” as Michael Vaughan thinks James Anderson is, reliable he is not. It’s all or nothing.
On that merry note, join us at Cricinfo for a full package of joyous fun and analysis and occasionally laughter. And, in between drinking yourself into a depressed stupor, leave a comment or three below.
8 Comments »Catching into contention
By Will 2 years ago, mid-March, 5 Comments »
What a genuinely extraordinary day of Test cricket. My boss and I meandered through proceedings much as England did, as Stephen Fleming and Jamie How looked increasingly confident, before an hour of brilliance took over. New Zealand’s bravado cost them dear. (scorecard)
So flat did England look that New Zealand confidently mucked around with their lineup in an attempt to chivvy their run-rate. But in doing so, they let England through the backdoor and allied with some astonishing catching – the like of which I haven’t seen an England side take for years – we’re in for a corker of a final day.
Matthew Hoggard’s catch to dismiss Jamie How was a wonderfully athletic salmon-leap at deep midwicket. A Youtube classic for sure. But the real sensation – and that is what his catching has been in this Test – was Alastair Cook who added two more snaffles to his three in the first innings, one of which was an outstanding two-handed leap to his left. When an average fielder pulls off a fine catch, we all dismiss it as a) marvellous / wonderful / slightly hilarious and b) a fluke to be savoured, not expected. But when has one fielder, who was previously considered nothing short of a liability, taken so many corking catches in a Test? Remarkable.
However, isn’t it odd that a flurry of catches can make an average team look really rather good? England, as Andrew Miller points out in his verdict, probably don’t deserve to be in this situation; they bowled like drains in the first innings and their batsmen have showed all the urgency of an asthmatic mole.
Some of you will no doubt tick me off for not praising England – and yes, Ryan Sidebottom richly deserved his hat-trick – and you’re quite welcome to call me a cynical old bugger. But for now, let’s just savour the fact that a dead Test match has fizzed into life with one day to go. Who needs one-dayers?
5 Comments »Matthew Hoggard’s video diary from Sri Lanka
By Will 3 years ago, at the start of December, 3 Comments »
Matthew Hoggard is video-blogging his tour of Sri Lanka. Have a look below, or click here.
You need Flash Player 8 or higher to view video content with the ROO Flash Player.
Click here to download and install it.
Matthew Hoggard, England all-rounder, animal lover and technical wizard gives
us a warts-and-all look behind the scenes as the tour of Sri Lanka gets
underway.
In the first episode, he struggles to cope with jetlag, enjoys the view of a
building site outside his bedroom, turns the tables on a Sky Sports reporter
and gets up close and personal with a Male Body Toucher.
England start well
By Will 3 years ago, at the start of December, 1 Comment »
Surprised? Me too, as are the whole of England no doubt. This was comfortably the best start by a touring England side to a series I can remember for years – certainly by one bowling first, and definitely by one who lost the toss. My and my colleague reckon it’s the best bowling performance since Angus Fraser took 5 for 28 against the West Indies on the first day at Sabina Park in 1990.
The threat of Muttiah Muralitharan still looms large. Like a really, really nasty weather forecast for a Bank Holiday you just know he’s going to cause havoc at some time or another, especially considering the turn Monty Panesar got. Ian Bell and Michael Vaughan played him pretty safely in the evening gloom, however.
It certainly beats the horrors of last year.
1 Comment »Photos from MCC v Sussex, Lord’s
By Will 3 years ago, mid-April, 4 Comments »
Some cracking photos from Peter Meade of MCC v Sussex.
Matthew Hoggard in typical unrestrained, relaxed, un-mediary pose:
Steve Harmison. Pensive as ever.
And finally…
An unmissable horror show
By Will 4 years ago, mid-December, 6 Comments »
By the time I’d reached double figures, my brother had subjected me to most of the vile horror and thriller movies Britain and Hollywood had churned out. Older brothers are good for this. I’d worked through the initial mind-bending disgust and learned to appreciate their cinematic qualities, or so I insisted. And today, watching Adam Gilchrist smack the second-fastest Test century, I was transported back to my youth.
Like England, I no longer feared Gilchrist. Bring Freddie around the wicket and let the ball do the rest. But once Gilly passed fifty, everything clicked spectacularly. England were sinking like ten Titanics piled on top one another, and Australia were beating the urn from them like an unruly bouncer confiscating a teenager’s alcopop. The sixes were worthy of 12 and the unrestrained violence was just too delicious to ignore. You wanted him to get there. Viv Richards? Who’s he? Let Gilly beat it, and some. I was urging him on like a true blue Aussie (or a true green’n'gold).
One feedbacker to Cricinfo proclaimed Matthew Hoggard as the most unsporting bowler ever to draw breath (or words to the effect of) by preventing Gilchrist from taking the record from Richards. Yes, Hoggard did send the ball wider and Gilchrist couldn’t quite reach it – but that is the bowler’s job. I’m not convinced Hoggie was even aware of the record, anyway…
Epic. Sometimes, foes are just impressive not to admire. (read his full innings via Cricinfo’s ball-by-ball. Shouldn’t take long…)
6 Comments »Hoggard’s 5th video diary from Australia
By Will 4 years ago, mid-December, No Comments; be the first!
Couple of days late, but here’s Matthew Hoggard’s 5th video diary from Australia. (see previous videos)
Click here if you can’t see the video above.
No Comments »Hoggard’s 4th video diary from Australia
By Will 4 years ago, at the start of December, 2 Comments »
Matthew Hoggard’s fourth Ashes video diary. Usual nonsense but he does it better than most cricketers could and it’s good to see behind the scenes at Adelaide. It ends with him in an ice bath…click here if you can’t see the video below.
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