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CRICKET ROADSHOWS

Week 15 Review - 15 Aug, University of Leicester Hard work is the key - Hoggard

Yorkshire and England strike bowler Matthew Hoggard has revealed how hours of hard work with coach Duncan Fletcher helped him overcome his uncharacteristically poor early season form.

The 25-year-old emerged as one of the leading lights during England's winter tours to India and New Zealand but he struggled to retain his rhythm during the opening two Tests of the summer and was then dropped from the one-day team after having a temporary loss of confidence.

Since then he has worked closely with the England coach to rectify a couple of minor faults which had crept into his action and the rewards have been both immediate and tangible, as he revealed exclusively on Saturday's Cricket Roadshow, broadcast live from the University of Leicester.

"I was in a bit of a bad trot to start off with so I've worked out with Duncan Fletcher and the coaches in the nets and tried to pick up my game," explained Hoggard. "It was to do with my run-up and I just didn't have any rhythm, so I just tried to flatten out and smooth out my rhythm, and once that came back my action started flowing again."

And a good job too bearing in mind the injuries which have at times sidelined up to five members of England's bowling attack - Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick, Simon Jones, Alex Tudor and Dominic Cork. Their varying absences have loaded ever more onto Hoggard's broad shoulders but they bread them tough up in Pudsey, his home town.

"I had problems with my feet," he explained. "My front foot would go too far across so my left arm would come out to early, and as physics will confirm 'to every action there is a reaction'.

"Basically my wrist was pushing it (the ball) to leg so I wasn't swinging the ball. We had cones out so that I was in a straight line and, while it wasn't a abig change, I tried to get my left arm more towards the target.

"The wrist position is the most important part about swing bowling and I had a problem because I didn't follow through properly," confirmed Hoggard.

All that is now consigned to history and Hoggard is thriving on his return to form among what is still a relatively inexperienced bowling attack – Andrew Caddick excepted.

"They keep on throwing this responsibility on to my shoulders, but it's not all down to me" he insisted. "There are four other bowlers in the team and if one person is bowling badly then the team can carry them, but at the moment we're all bowling well.

"I think all the bowlers are going well, even the young debutants coming in have done the job, it's just fortunate for me that I've been picking up wickets," he said modestly. "We've been doing our jobs as bowlers but I think it's our batters that we've got to praise. They've been scoring 400+, 500 and when you've got that amount of runs on the board it's easier to put pressure on the Indian batsmen."

On Thursday he should be rejoined by Caddick for the 3rd npower Test and the Somerset bowler is raring to go after missing both of the opening Tests due to a side injury. His absence has given others – such as Jones, Tudor and Harmison – a rare opportunity to stake their own selection claims but Caddick insisted it was healthy competition rather than bitter rivalry.

"It's one of those things. It's nice to see young talent coming through at this stage. There's been a lot said about injuries but the fact is that it gives the opportunity for these young blokes to come in." he said.

"Jones has bowled well, he's had a taste of it, Harmison's had a bit of a taste of it and they both know what the rigours of Test cricket are all about and what work they've got to put in to maintain it. But I'm pretty confident that no matter what happens in the next 18 months that I want to make sure I'm part of that England team."

But one player he won't be hooking up with this summer, at least in the playing since, is Darren Gough. The pair have been virtual certainties together for the last five years but Gough's continuing absence due to injury means they haven't bowled in tandem for England since last August.

Caddick would love to have his new ball rival firing it down from the opposite end but with time running out for the pair to continue at the top he admitted his mind had already begun to ponder about how long he can continue at the highest level.

"We'll see what happens. I play a lot of things by ear so I'm not going to sit here and say I'm definitely going to retire at the end of the year. Maybe towards the end of next year, but these things come along and one minute you're thinking 'I've had enough' and the next you think 'I can go on a bit further'."

Elsewhere on the programme David Graveney revealed the England's 13-man squad for Thursday's 3rd Test at Trent Bridge, Joan Bennett (in charge of player teas at Sussex CCC) revealed Devon Malcolm can't get enough of her home-made chocolate puddings with custard, and Murray Goodwin admitted his penchant for "a good rack".

"Lord's has to be the best spread for food," said Goodwin. "The rack of lamb especially because I like a good rack".

Meanwhile, John Thornton, head chef at Trent Bridge, said modern players were now much more aware of the benefits of healthy eating.

"A few years ago it was steak and kidney pie with chips. They could have anything they wanted but now they just seem to be a lot fitter and more athletic now. They want more energy so they can stay out in the field longer," said Thornton.

There was also an in-depth look at the local league system in Leicester while the county's former chief executive James Whitaker revealed why he resigned from Leicester CCC just 24 hours previously.

"Over the last few weeks I've been coming to the conclusion that I should be diverting my energies into something a little bit more satisfying," he said. "I've got a lot of energy to give, and commitment, and I'm looking to stay in cricket but perhaps in a different way."

But when asked whether that could mean a coaching job down at Hampshire, who recently sacked Jimmy Cook, Whitaker was strictly non-committal. "We'll just have to wait and see," he said cryptically.

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