Matthew Hoggard is one of the best English fast bowlers of the early 2000s. He was crucial to the success of the England team in Test Cricket. He played 67 Test Matches for England. He picked up 248 Wickets for England at an average of 30.50. He has taken 7 Five Wicket Hauls in Test Cricket. He has also played in 28 ODIs for England In which he has got 32 Wickets. He has one Five Wicket Haul in ODI Cricket.
Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Bowling Performances of Matthew Hoggard
1) 7/63 vs New Zealand (2002)
This was the first 5 Wicket Haul for Matthew Hoggard in Test Cricket and it was one of his best ever spells of bowling. He absolutely destroyed the New Zealand batting. He bowled 21.2 overs in which he picked 7 wickets for 63 runs. He gave away 3 runs per over and he made sure that New Zealand were never in the test match. Matthew Hoggard had arrived in international cricket. Due to his incredible performance, England won the match by 98 runs.
2) 7/61 vs South Africa (2005)
This was in the fourth innings of this test match and it was against South Africa. South Africa needed 325 to win this test match. Matthew Hoggard bowled the best spell of his test career. He Bowled 18.3 overs in which he gave away 61 runs and he took 7 of the 10 wickets of South Africa. This was his second 7 Wicket Haul in Test Cricket. He was at his best and because of him , England won this match by 77 runs and a big away win for them.
3) 6/57 vs India (2006)
This is the Third best bowling performance in the test career of Matthew Hoggard. It came in India against India in 2006. He bowled a long spell of 30.5 overs and he gave away 57 runs which is less than 2 runs per over. He picked up 6 important wickets of the Indian batting. He made sure that India were all out for 323. This match was a draw and it was mainly because of his heroic performance with the ball. He was showing that he was an equally good fast bowler at home or away.
4) 7/109 vs Australia (2007)
There is a common thread with almost all these outstanding performances and that is they are away from home in England. This was in the Ashes against Australia. This was his 3rd 7 wicket Haul in Test Cricket however it was not enough as England lost the match. He bowled one of the longest spells for a fast bowler at 42 overs and he gave away 109 runs which is less than 3 runs per over. He took 7 wickets but the other bowlers were not of much help. This was a bittersweet performance for Matthew Hoggard.
5) 5/49 vs Zimbabwe (2001)
This is his best ODI bowling performance and it was against the best Zimbabwe team that has ever played cricket. All the 5 performances in this list are against 5 different quality opponents. And most of these bowling performances are not in England. In this match he bowled 10 overs for 49 runs. He made sure that England won by 4 wickets. The unfortunate part was that he was unable to replicate the success of test cricket in ODIs.
Also Read: Best James Anderson bowling performances
