Yorkshire swing bowler, 2005 Ashes hero, and the heart of England's seam attack
CricketMatthew Hoggard did not look like a fast bowler. Shaggy-haired, cheerful, and prone to calling everyone 'lad', he simply kept hitting the top of off stump for England until the opposition ran out of patience.
Born in Leeds in 1976, Hoggard came through at Yorkshire and made his England debut in 2000. Over the next eight years he took 248 Test wickets at an average of 30, placing him among England's most successful seamers. He was a central figure in the 2005 Ashes, where his late swing and unglamorous graft earned him a hat-trick against the West Indies in 2004 and a reputation as the bowler teammates most wanted at the other end.
Hoggard was the comic relief in a very serious England dressing room. Teammates tell stories of his love for dogs, his baffling habit of knitting on tour, and his refusal to take himself seriously even in the middle of a Test series that defined a generation.
After retirement he coached at Leicestershire and has become a popular pundit and after-dinner speaker, bringing the inside story of the 2005 summer to audiences who still remember exactly where they were when Edgbaston tilted England's way.
At Steam Wine Bar he delivers it all with a Yorkshire accent as thick as the custard on a school pudding.
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