When 2005 Ashes hero Matthew Hoggard left Yorkshire at the end of last season a few eyebrows were raised in the cricket world. Seeking extra responsibility, Hoggy was enticed to Leicestershire with the offer of club captaincy and the chance to pass on his experience and expertise to a group of promising young cricketers.

To bring in a player of Hoggard’s reputation was a real coup for the Foxes and a signal of the county’s intent to ensure a return to the glory years. After a blistering start, which included a first away win in four years, Leicestershire have been inconsistent in recent weeks. The captain has plenty of belief in the team’s ability but is looking for the players to raise their game.

“We have got some very talented players. We just need them to show their talent on a more regular basis than the fleeting glimpses we’ve got at the moment. The standard is better than I thought it was, but the consistency just isn’t there at the moment. We’ve played some very good cricket in amongst some very poor cricket.”

Hoggard believes it’s down to the players to improve but is prepared to support them as much as possible.

“Individual players need to sort their consistency out when they’re in the middle batting, fielding or bowling. I haven’t got the bat or ball in hand. It’s up to them to make sure they’re choosing the right shots at the right time and that they’re backing themselves.

“I try to put belief in them and tell them that I back them. They need to go out and play the way they want to play. It’s a learning curve. We’ve got a young side and hopefully we can learn quickly because if we don’t we’ll keep losing.”

Hoggy has relished the extra responsibility of captaincy even if it’s perhaps taken some focus away from his own performances.

“It’s been fantastic and the challenge that I wanted and needed. The cricket side of it is going ok and I like the extra responsibility. The meetings and all the background stuff you have to attend is extra work, but that goes with the territory. I’ve really enjoyed it and the club have been fantastic.

“I’m thinking about a lot more things on the field like who should be bowling and who should be fielding where and sometimes forgetting about my own performance. It’s standing up at the moment but hopefully it’ll get better.”

Matthew sees the opportunity to put his theories into practice as a bonus and admitted he now takes the game home with him more than he used to.

“I do and it’s only right that I do. It’s nice to be able to implement what you’re actually wanting rather than just thinking about it, telling someone else and they think ‘thanks but no, I’m not going to do it that way’, so it’s been good.”

Although very much his own man, the straight-talking swing bowler, is still keen to take advice from his team-mates.

“I welcome everybody’s view from the youngest guys to the oldest. It’s not a dictatorship. I do like to listen to everybody, but in the end it’s my way. If I don’t agree with it then we don’t do it. I’m not the font of all knowledge and I’m not a guru. I still need help and I’ve got some good players to call upon for that help.”

Now 33, Hoggard has enjoyed an extremely successful career at county and international level and revealed how his love affair with the game started at an early age back in Pudsey, in Yorkshire.

“I started playing because we lived near a local cricket club and every time I got underneath my mum’s feet she kicked me out to the cricket club! I played a lot for Pudsey Congs and I was lucky that Phil Carrick came to captain the first team. I was playing third team cricket when Phil saw me bowling in the nets and brought me into the first team. He talked to Yorkshire about me, got me a trial and the rest is history.”

As part of his early cricketing career, Hoggy’s mentor and former Yorkshire captain, Phil Carrick, arranged for him to stay with friends in South Africa to experience a different type of cricket and Matthew saw Phil and the experience abroad as a big part of his education in the sport.

“Phil had a huge influence on me. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be playing cricket, so I owe a great deal to him. I was 18 when I went there, learning about myself. It was a good standard and a great learning curve on and off the pitch. Sadly, he died in 2000 whilst I was playing in South Africa and regrettably I didn’t fly back for the funeral, so I never got to say goodbye properly to him.”

One of Hoggard’s greatest achievements was playing a major part in England’s famous 2005 Ashes victory over the Australians. Matthew fondly recalls the euphoria of victory for the players and the country as a whole.

“It was fantastic. There were no other sporting events on at the time so we weren’t competing with any other sports. Australia were a very good side at the time and to win the Ashes for the first time in 18 years was very special.

“We’d never been front page, back page or middle pages of the newspapers before. We were normally squeezed into a half page in the sports section because nobody was interested in cricket.

“The way that the nation was gripped by the Ashes in 2005 was fantastic. Everybody was getting off work to watch us, the TV’s at the golf courses had it on, it was just everywhere. Then we went on the open bus tour around London and I thought two men and a dog would turn up, but it was so well received. It was unbelievable.”

The desire to play for his country and wear those three lions on his chest still burns inside Hoggard. However, he concedes his chance might have gone and is prepared to channel that hunger into transforming Leicestershire’s fortunes.

“I’m a realist. I still want to play for England but I don’t think I will again so I’ll throw myself into Leicester and hopefully make Leicester the force that they were in the late 1990s.”

Hoggy paid tribute to England’s recent World Twenty-20 victory and enjoyed watching the team triumph in an international tournament.

“It was fantastic and there were some great performances. They can clear the ropes now and I think that was a weakness in the past. We’ve found a group of players that can hit sixes and fours and they did just that. It was a fantastic victory.”

Hoggard believes the excitement of T-20 is good for the future of cricket and is looking forward to seeing Grace Road full for the county’s fixtures.

“It’s good fun, exciting and gets the spectators involved and everybody wants to watch it. Anything that can get youngsters interested in cricket has got to be good.

“I am looking forward to the Twenty-20 season. We’ve got a good squad with some big, powerful hitters and obviously Brad Hodge comes in to strengthen us. It’s a competition that we’re looking to do well in.”

Hoggy On

Mates from the England days…
Harmy (Steve Harmison), Freddie (Andrew Flintoff), Jimmy Anderson and Ashley Giles.

Best batsmen faced…
Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Any of your modern day greats, I’ve played against them.

Relaxing away from the game…
Walking dogs is a good one and playing with Ernie, my three-year-old son.

The future…
I’m doing my coaching badges this winter so it does interest me and it’s on my radar is coaching.

Follow the Foxes in this season’s Friends Provident twenty20 competition! Advanced match tickets are available for £12 adults and £5 under 16s. Please visit http://shop.leicestershireccc.co.uk for more information.