Funny how Hoggy is always slated as 'undeerrated'. I suggest it was the media who always underrated him, cos amongst the England fans he was a hero, and opposition batsmen treated him with an amount of respect. Bit of a tired ol cliche of an article really

I am not an Englishman but I've always enjoyed watching him bowl and have always liked his hardwork...

i am a pakistani fan,but really,the sight of hoggard coming in to bowl with his swing was awesome and i feel he has been let down by the ECB.after that historic win against the aussies in 2005 the quartet pace attack of harmison,hoggard,flintoff and one onther should have remained they were so dominant against the aussies with a great variety,reverse swing conventionl swing,height of harmisonmand of course the great flintoff.

generally the english bowlers of 90s and 2000s were a piece of crap. The only exception being Hoggard. A gentleman he is, he gives his best anytime.

I still remember, he was the only bowler who smiles even after being hit for runs. he should be given another chance to be back in the team.

Hoggard was a joy to watch indeed. And I loved him for being as forthright as he was, off the field. Am trying to lay my hands on his autobio. Nice ode to a jovial cricketer. Hope he does great at Leicester this year.

I remember the test series between India n England in 2004.. Hoggard bowling unplayable deliveries one after the other to Rahul Dravid at Headingly.. Dravid missing 90% of the away-swinging deliveries, and somehow managing to survive those horrible swinging sessions.. Hoggard didn't give an inch, when the other bowlers were wilting away in the face of dogged resistance from "the Wall".. Only Hoggard had the heart to bowl in the face of unyielding Indian batting resistance..

Although not as flashy as Simon Jones, not as tall/intimidating as Harmison, not a darling of the English masses like Flintoff, he was the architect of some of the finest swing bowling that England have produced in the last 10-15 years.
His treatment was often compared with that meted out to Javagal Srinath when he retired. Only difference is, Srinath was able to keep his presence alive even after retirement.. I wish Hoggard also had been felicitated by the ECB like FLintoff.. A true Gladiator he was!

Well said! Hoggard has been my favourite cricketer of the last decade, and he rarely gets enough credit. He had the determination and skill to make himself the kind of bowler who routinely excelled on dead pitches as well as greentops. As for the hacks who said he'd 'lost his nip', it's worth pointing out that he never did bowl fast, and that speed is a lot less important than skill and control.

It's a crying shame that England treated him so shabbily. I'm sure he would have remained the most effective English seamer, and if Chamida Vaas is anything to go by, he could still have a few more years at the top. England's (and Yorkshire's) loss is Leicester's gain.

There are always these nice guys who often get to go unnoticed like Hoggard and Srinath, but its baffling as to how these guys get ignored by the boards too.

I appreciate this tribute to Hoggard. Surprisingly you don't mention what I'd say first: that he produced, in January 2005 at Johannesburg, the greatest individual performance by an England bowler in 25 years and (for my money) the greatest match performance by any England cricketer (yes, including Flintoff!) in the 2000s. I thought he was poorly treated by the England management in 2008, a feeling intensified for life by the selection of Darren Pattinson at Hoggard's former home ground that summer. Not sure where Moin is coming from describing Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Simon Jones as a "piece of crap": a bowling attack offering that much variation that wins a long series against the best side of the last 20 years is the sort of crap any country would take.