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October 14, 2009
What has Matthew Hoggard done wrong?
What has Matthew Hoggard done wrong?
Matthew Hoggard comes across as a funny, down to earth, reliable and respected man. On top of this, he was a fantastic international cricketer in his day and is still a very, very handy county player. So what has he done wrong to be treated so badly by club and country in recent times?
Let me explain a little bit first what I am talking about. After being off the pace somewhat for ONE test match during England’s tour to New Zealand in March 2008, Hoggard was dropped from the team for the rest of the series and following summer. This, in itself, wasn’t that unexpected.
However, Hoggard never got a re-call (unlike Steve Harmison who got chance after chance to impress) and was basically cast aside by the England selectors.
Speaking about his lack of appearances for England at the time, he said that his contact with the ECB ‘had been zero’ and that it ‘breaks his heart’ how he lost his place in the squad. The quote “One minute I was sixth on England's all-time list of wicket-takers, the next I was told I'd lost my central contract and I was completely out on my ear” sums it up quite nicely.
Looking back, he was treated poorly. He always gave his all for England and more often than not this was with success. So why on earth wasn’t he given an explanation?
To make matters worse, the same thing has now happened for Hoggard with his County. He has been released from his contract with Yorkshire County Cricket clubdespite being the team’s leading wicket-taker and taking a hat-trick against Sussex only a few weeks ago.
The club have said that Hoggard turned down a contract to stay with the County, but he has denied this by saying that he feels ‘disappointed, gutted and angry’ about how he has been treated. According to the 32-year-old, the contract was ‘suddenly off the table”.
So, what on earth has been going on with Hoggard? Is he making a meal out of things? Has he been awkward in his reaction to England and Yorkshire’s actions? Something funny seems to be going on, that’s for sure.
Personally, I am going with the player and saying that he has been badly treated. He seems an honest individual and I don’t think he would come out and make accusations that aren’t true. Not long ago he was England’s opening bowler and one of Yorkshire’s most valuable assets in regards to improving their cricket betting odds.
Now, he will never play for his country again and he is on the hunt for a new County. I will ask it one last time – what has Matthew Hoggard done wrong?
14 Oct 2009 13:00
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Tags: Contract Cricket Ecb England Harmison Hoggard Sack Sport Yorkshire
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March 01, 2007
The Winter of Discontent
The winter spanning 1978 to 1979 was one of the most fractious periods of UK political history. The Labour government’s attempts to implement a cap on pay rises to 5% were met with some resistance from the trade unions and there were widespread strikes in both the public and private sectors resulting near chaos among the public services. Those fateful few months of James Callaghan’s premiership became known as the Winter of Discontent after the opening line of Shakespeare’s Richard III. A general election was called in the spring and a new leader was elected in the Conservative Margaret Thatcher.
Yorkshire County Cricket Club have been having a ‘winter of discontent’ of their own. Towards the end of the 2006 season Yorkshire, then coach-less, received criticism from Anthony McGrath who was a senior player in the Yorkshire squad. It was a few weeks later that Stewart Regan, the club’s Chief Executive stated that he hoped McGrath would stay following some ‘constructive and helpful’ talks with the batting all rounder.
Michael Lumb, the middle order batsman, chose his moment shortly afterwards by choosing not to renew his contract at Yorkshire and announced a move to Hampshire.
Then some bright news appeared to be on the horizon. Chris Adams had announced that he was to leave Sussex, a team he had helped lead to the double of the County Championship and the C&G Trophy. He was due to sign for the club as player, captain and fulfil a role as coach. Adams’ departure was announced with some regret by Sussex on
The unsettled McGrath issue reared its ugly head yet again amidst the hype of the appointment of Adams and he announced his intentions to leave the club.
A most unexpected U-Turn from Chris Adams further added to Yorkshire’s woes. Two weeks after first announcing his move to Yorkshire, he claimed it was “too much too soon” and decided to honour the remainder of his contract with Surrey while having the opportunity to move into a managerial role when he felt the time was right.
The move sparked up criticism from fiery ex Yorkshire and England opening batsman turned commentator, Geoff Boycott who slammed Adams’ “lack of moral fibre.” Yorkshire were also left with more gaps to fill, in appointing Adams for his player-come-coach-come-manager role the incumbent director of cricket, David Byas, was practically forced to give up his position.
In amongst all this, McGrath grabbed headlines once again by starting litigation against the club in order to release him from his contract despite being offered the captaincy role in return for staying with the club. As if the county did not have enough on their plate trying to fill a middle order spot, find a suitable captain, appoint a coach and now a Director of Cricket not to mention their money worries that have forced them to move matches to Sheffield after an 11 year hiatus, they now had a legal battle on their hands too.
As with Callaghan’s winter of discontent, however, this one too resulted in a new leader. (This change in command though was probably more popular in Yorkshire than the one at the end of the 78/79 winter.) On
And so the future is beginning to look interesting for Yorkshire again. They have a new captain, someone who actually wants the job. Gough famously put his hand up for the role of England captain when no one else was willing while Nasser Hussain broke one of his fingers but the job was given to the unwilling Michael Atherton instead. The managerial situation is looking less bleak now too, the great former South African fast bowler Allan Donald has expressed an interest in the Director of Cricket position and the management are currently in the position of appointing a new coach.
There was once a time when the England Test side was almost indistinguishable from the Yorkshire County side which makes it all the more upsetting to see a team that was once great suffering terribly over the past few seasons (and that is coming from an avid Kent supporter!) Hopefully the upturn in fortunes over the past few weeks can bring about a happier dressing room and a more successful Yorkshire once again.
01 Mar 2007 16:45
| Tags: Byas Coach Cricket Darren Darren Gough Donald Gough Yorkshire
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