Hoggard bows out as one of the greats – Gillespie

Matthew Hoggard yesterday brought the curtain down on one of the great Yorkshire and England careers. Nick Westby gauged the reaction from some of Hoggard’s old team-mates.
Matthew HoggardMatthew Hoggard
Matthew Hoggard

JASON GILLESPIE has hailed Matthew Hoggard as “one of England’s greatest ever seamers” after the former Yorkshire pace bowler announced his retirement from first-class cricket.

Hoggard, 36, is to call time on his career at the end of the season.

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And Gillespie, who shared a dressing room with him at Yorkshire in 2006 and 2007, said Hoggard’s place in the pantheon was guaranteed.

“He’ll go down as one of England’s greatest ever seamers,” said Gillespie, who is now the Yorkshire first-team coach.

“He complemented the England attack really well and probably didn’t get the credit he deserved for the part he played against us in the 2005 Ashes.

“Both him and Ashley Giles were absolutely brilliant that series and probably snuck under the radar a little bit.

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“While they might not have been averaging 15 with the ball, and things like that, they both fulfilled roles and got important wickets, and Hoggy got Matty Hayden out a few times with really good field placings and by pitching the ball up and bringing it back into the stumps.”

Hoggard, who captured 248 wickets in 67 Tests, represented Yorkshire between 1996 and 2009.

After taking 331 first-class wickets for the county at 27.05, he joined Leicestershire and was appointed captain.

“I sat next to him in the Yorkshire dressing room in the old Rugby Stand at Headingley and I enjoyed his company a lot,” said Gillespie. “He was as mad as a bucket of snakes, but when he stepped over that white line and on to the ground, he gave his all for club and country.

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“To my mind, he complemented the England attack really well, pitched the ball up a lot and looked to swing it.

“He bowled a lot of overs, did a lot of the hard work, into the breeze and that sort of thing, and he was always a wonderful competitor.”

Anthony McGrath, one of the men Hoggard shared a Championship-winning season with in 2001, also praised his long-time team-mate.

McGrath said: “First and foremost he was a fantastic bowler for Yorkshire and latterly with Leicestershire. He was someone who could bowl with pace and swing it both ways.

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“Hoggy was a tremendous trier. He’d play through injuries and he was someone you would want on your team, rather than someone you were facing.

“Occasionally he’d joke that he didn’t like cricket too much, then you’d see him out on the pitch and you’d have to work hard to get the ball out of his hand he was that determined to bowl as often as he could.”

The Leeds-born Yorkshire academy product left his home county after contract talks broke down in 2009.

It was a very public parting of the ways at the time, but McGrath feels the pace bowler should be remembered for the positive elements of his long association with the White Rose county.

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“Hoggy was a very popular figure at Yorkshire,” said McGrath, who himself retired before this season.

“He had a lot of good times at the club, coming through the academy and playing for the first team. He was a great servant and a great performer.

“That’s the kind of thing people need to remember, what he achieved, not how he left the county.”

The Yorkshire seamer played in 67 Tests, and appeared 93 times for England in all, claiming 248 Test victims.

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He announced on his website yesterday that, at the age of 36, he will conclude his 17-year career on September 21 after Leicestershire’s County Championship match against Hampshire.

Hoggard, who was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2006, said: “Calling it quits is always a difficult choice to make.

“You don’t do these sort of things willy-nilly, you have to think about it. I’ve come to the decision it is the right time to go.

“The body is beginning to hurt a lot more than it used to.

“Bowling doesn’t get any easier, and the body is not getting any younger. I think it is fair on everybody to go.

“I’ve just got four days of cricket left against Hampshire – Tuesday to Friday next week then it’s party time.

“But it will be sad too. I’m sure there will be a few tears at some point.”