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Matthew Hoggard's Biography

 
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Right arm fast-medium bowler, Matthew Hoggard was born on 31 December 1976 in Leeds.

He played for Yorkshire for 15 years and made his test debut for England against West Indies in 2000.

Hoggard had lived in the shadow of Harmison and Flintoff, but stepped into the spotlight against South Africa in 2004. His 12 wicket haul for 205 in one test match was the best English bowling performance since Ian Botham against India 25 years earlier. The record came in Johannesburg on the ground where Hoggard had played for Free State in the 1998-99 season.

Hoggard was left with a little egg on his face after Australia's stunning victory over England in the first test of the Ashes 2005 as just before Hoggard had told the Press Association: "They're getting on a little bit - we've got back-to-back Test matches so it'll be interesting to see if they can put in the consistent performances for 25 days ...It'll be interesting to see if they have the firepower to bowl us out twice". Nevertheless all worked out in the end and Hoggard proved an important player as England beat Australia to regain the Ashes in 2005.

Wisden named Matthew Hoggard one of the top 5 cricketers in the world in 2005.

Matthew Hoggard loves animals and would like to have been a vet. Hoggard and his wife Sarah have a border collie called Molly. He often goes for walks on the moors. Another possible career path for Hoggard is IT which he started studying at the Open University after he had a serious knee operation in 2002.

In the first Test against Sri Lanka in 2006, Hoggard became the 10th bowler to take over 200 Test wickets for England.
Matthew Hoggard enjoys chips and Twix (probably not together).

Hoogard, interviewed by Telegraph Sport about his cricket development emphasised the role of the Yorkshire spinner Phil Carrick: "When Phil came to our club in Pudsey, I was playing third-team cricket, but he got me into the first team and the rest is history. I played no representative cricket at all for Yorkshire. I played for Leeds Schoolboys up to under-15s, but after being suggested for trials by Phil, I got straight into the Academy, played two games for the Yorkshire Academy, then had two years in the seconds team. I got a county contract and made my first-class debut at 19."

In October 2009, Matthew Hoggard was reportedly shocked and bitterly disappointed at Yorkshire's decision not to renew his contract after 15 years with the county.

 



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