Perfect 10 puts Hoggy on course for return

Matthew Hoggard declared himself fighting fit for an England comeback after a short, sharp warm-up yesterday, and insisted that his experience will more than make up for a lack of match practice.

The 30-year-old seamer is all but certain to return to the attack for the fourth npower Test against the West Indies at Chester-le-Street, starting tomorrow, after taking a wicket and coming through a 10-over spell unscathed in Yorkshire's Friends Provident Trophy win over Northants.

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Having missed the last two matches with a groin injury, Hoggard bowled three separate spells at full throttle and felt his rhythm was good from the off.

He claimed the wicket of Usman Afzaal, for 132, after nearly having the left-hander caught behind on 22. His last over — right at the end of the innings — went for 13 runs, but he was satisfied that he had exhibited decent control after almost four weeks out of competitive action.

Most importantly for Hoggard, as he prepares to take over from Liam Plunkett in the England side at the Riverside, was the fact that he experienced no trace of discomfort.

"I felt fine out there," he said. "There was no soreness, my groin held up well and my legs felt good. The ball went in the right areas more often than not. At the death of the innings anything goes, so I won't take too much notice of that.

"But in my first five or six overs I didn't bowl any wides, I didn't bowl any no-balls, I didn't bowl any halfvolleys really, so I was quite happy.

"This was as much of a test of the injury as anything. If you can get through 10 overs in three spells, you are fine. I can't feel it now and if I wake up tomorrow feeling painfree then there's been no reaction."

The veteran of 63 Tests and an Ashes triumph is certainly being rushed back into the Test team with a degree of urgency.

Hoggard admitted that, in an ideal world, he would bowl more competitive overs first but was adamant that he had been around long enough to handle the situation.

"The only issue is going into the game without a lot of match practice, but now that I'm an old head I should be able to close my eyes and wang it down in roughly the right spot," he said.

"It would have been nice to have a bit more match practice but I want to play in the Test. I'm happy with the way the ball is coming out, so it's not as if I'm coming back feeling like a bag of spanners."

Hoggard's comfortable return sets up the prospect of him operating in tandem with his former Yorkshire team-mate Ryan Sidebottom again.

"He has done really well and we can roll back the years," said Hoggard. "It's been a while since I've opened the bowling with him but I'm sure we'll enjoy it."

Before yesterday, Hoggard had not bowled in a match since breaking down during the first Test at Lord's last month.

He had intended to make a low-key comeback for his club, Baildon, the weekend before the match at Old Trafford but was forced to abort the plan after the pain persisted.

While England were laying the foundations last week for their series-clinching victory, Hoggard continued his recovery by bowling four overs at the National Cricket Centre in Loughborough.

He linked up with his Test team-mates, bowling six overs on Saturday and a further 10 on Monday, building up to 100 per cent pace and intensity.

Hoggard has been included in a 12-man squad for the series finale in place of Plunkett.

James Anderson was again placed on standby in the event of any hitches, but now it appears that the Lancastrian will be released to return to his county for their championship match against Kent, starting tomorrow.